San Antonio inflicted another defeat on the Thunder this Thursday, in Oklahoma City, the third in two weeks. Eighth victory in a row for the Texan club.
The roller coaster. Led by De’Aaron Fox (29 pts), the Spurs won 117-102 in Oklahoma City this Thursday, during the NBA Christmas feast, after New York’s stunning success over Cleveland (126-124). Eighth victory in a row for San Antonio, which has just beaten the outgoing champions for the third time in two weeks, the second in two days. With a record of 23 wins and seven losses, they consolidate their second place in the Western Conference standings and come back on the heels of the Thunder, still in the lead but who have just conceded four defeats in their last six games, including three against the Alamo City club, after winning 24 of their first 25 meetings this season (26 wins-5 losses).
19 points (6/12 on shots, 2/3 on 3 points), 11 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 interception and 1 block in 26 minutes for Victor Wembanyama, who came off the bench again and again saw his playing time limited, as always since his return from injury. Remember that the Frenchman missed 12 matches due to a calf problem. The Texan staff wants to be extremely careful with him, who is notably to be credited with a crazy tap-dunk on the head of Jalen Williams, literally (see below). Besides Fox, three other teammates finished with 10 or more points, Stefon Castle (19), Harrison Barnes (15) and Dylan Harper (12). On the OKC side, MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 22 points. Double-double for Isaiah Hartenstein (13 pts, 12 rbs) and Chet Holmgren (10 pts, 12 rbs).
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The Thunder however started this game strong, driven by “SGA” and “J-Dub” (8-10, then 18-12), but the Spurs, insolent in skill (71.4% at the end of the 1st QT) and benefiting from the entry of “Wemby”, quickly responded (36-37, then 36-41 at the end of the 1st QT). Already 13 points for Fox and soon +7 for the visitors (36-43), in this excessively contested, very intense first act, with some breathtaking sequences. Great duel, big shock. Wembanyama made his presence felt on both sides, like this merciless counter on a lay-up from Wiggins (46-53, then 46-55). And even without him, San Antonio drove the point home, with stops and triples from Barnes and Vassell (48-61). Impressive. After leading by 14 points (55-69), the Spurs were in control at the break (60-69 MT), with 21 points for the boiling Fox.
San Antonio guts the Thunder’s safe
It’s not common to see OKC’s safe gutted like this. But the score was ultimately not that high, knowing that the Spurs shot 60% in the first period (7/16 at 3 pts). Change of scenery at the start? Not really… The Thunder defense still couldn’t make San Antonio lose the ball (68-85). Without the possibility of hurting in transition and clumsy from afar, the reigning champions were helpless. Like this dunk by rookie Harper on Caruso’s muzzle, on a caviar of “Wemby”, the Spurs rolled (74-91, then 79-95 at the end of the 3rd QT).
Mark Daigneault’s players showed some encouraging signs, interceptions, running, skill (85-95, then 88-97). Until then, they had only survived on offensive rebounds. Alas, the Spurs took off again, with notably five points from Wembanyama, vocal in defense as we see in the images of ABC (91-106). Finished ? No. Without “Wemby”, OKC, with a second triple from Caruso, who started at 0/9 beyond the arc, and a basket from “SGA”, returned to -10 with 4’50 to play (98-108), with a nice one to go under 10 points. Never closer. Fox and Castle punished the Thunder (98-112) and coach Daigneault took out his starters with 1’42 to play, white flag (100-114, then 102-117 final score). The two teams still have to face each other twice in the regular season, on January 13, in Oklahoma City, and February 4, in San Antonio.
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