Once again returning home for a too-brief one-game home stand, the Spurs were facing an Oklahoma City Thunder squad that would be out for a vengeance after the Spurs ended their historic start in the Semifinals of the NBA Cup in Las Vegas. For the first three quarters, it was a tight game with many lead changes and neither team able to create much separation, but the Spurs blew the doors off in the fourth quarter and used a full team effort to get their second win of the season against the defending
champions and 7th straight overall for the first time since 2019, securing a firm hold on the second seed in the West in the process.
Similar to their first meeting, the Thunder cooked early without Victor Wembanyama in the lineup, getting out to a quick 9-2 lead, but this time the Spurs didn’t wait for him to respond, instead quickly composing themselves and attacking the paint for an 11-2 run to take the lead. Harrison Barnes, who had helped with the run by attacking Chet Holmgren down low, hit a three to get them up 16-13 in a good sign for him. The teams traded the lead a few times, but the Spurs’ 22 points in the paint played a big role in them being up 29-27 after 12 minutes.
Keldon Johnson, who was cooking from the moment he came in, scored 9 of 11 for the Spurs across the end of the first and beginning of the second quarter, and they got the lead up to 41-33 before the Thunder went on a 12-2 run to retake the lead. The Spurs regrouped from there as the teams traded buckets and the lead, but neither team could get much going offensively. The Thunder leaned heavily on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s 16 points and the midrange, and while the Spurs shot well overall, they were held by back by 5-17 from three and 5-10 from the free throw line, which played a major role in them being down 58-60 at halftime,
Devin Vassell and Barnes finally hit a couple of threes to trigger an 8-0 Spurs run early in the third to regain the lead, but like always, the Thunder responded. An 8-0 run of their own swung the lead back to 4 in their favor, and as was the case all game, things just continued to go back and fourth with neither team able to create much separation, until Johnson again sparked the Spurs off the bench to close the third quarter. They went on a 13-6 run, with KJ getting 8 of those points, to match their largest lead of 8 points before a Lu Dort three at buzzer made it 87-82 Spurs.
SGA scored the first two buckets for the Thunder to open the fourth quarter, but Stephon Castle matched him, and overall the Spurs were the more energetic team at this point. A Wemby three gave the Spurs their first double-digit lead at 98-96, and they had all the momentum, eventually getting the lead to 105-90 with 6 minutes remaining. Whatever response the Thunder had, the Spurs always had an answer. Threes from Johnson and Vassell had OKC emptying their bench, and overall the Spurs outscored the Thunder 43-28 for the trilling 130-110 win over the defending champions.
Game Notes
- Wemby was listed as “questionable” for this game, which kind of came out of left field considering he had just played in a back-to-back, and Mitch Johnson’s explanation was his long term health, the team’s travel schedule and personal life are all reasons for their extreme caution with him. Regardless, considering he ducked out of the game in DC a few minutes early and was not made available to media for “personal reasons”, I’m wondering if that was the reason among all of them for this random status of change. (Reminder, he lost his grandmother last week, so perhaps her funeral was in the last 48 hours and it was just a matter of if he’d be ready for this game. Clearly, he was.)
- The Spurs got contributions from everyone in this one. Barnes got out of his slump with 20 points (2-4 from three), Caslte had 24 points (4-6 from three), Vassell had 17 with some timely threes, and Victor Wembanyama had a 12 points and 5 rebounds in which he picked his spots (although one thing was missing, more on that below). However, the hero of this game was Keldon Johnson, who had 25 points on 10-16 shooting, 5-9 from three, and picked the right moments to explode and spark his team. I don’t know how he has been going unnoticed in the Sixth Man of the Year race, but he should be turning heads by now.
- Say goodbye Wemby’s block streak, which ended tonight at 101 games. He had a few chances at blocks as the secondary defender and barely missed, but for the most part, the Thunder didn’t challenge him at all near the rim. The one block he did have didn’t count because a foul had been called on an SGA shot, and any action after the whistle doesn’t count. Regardless, he’ll probably happily trade the block streak for the winning streak.
- Along with SGA’s 33 points, the other main contributor for the Thunder was Lu Dort with 15 points on 5-8 from three. However, he had two three-point opportunities wiped out. The first was in the first half, when originally a foul was called on Wemby on a closeout of a Dort three, but Johnson challenged the call, and it was changed to a no call since Dort had slid into Wemby’s path after the shot to create contact (it could have been an offensive foul). The other was during the big run run to open the fourth quarter, when Dort hit a three but stuck his leg out and tripped a closing out Barnes for an offensive foul. Both were straight up dumb plays on his part, momentum shifters, and tarnished what was otherwise a good game from him.
Play of the Game
This pass from Wemby to find Keldon under the basket was essentially the straw the broke the camel’s back, and the celebration makes it all the better.
Up next: Thursday at Oklahoma City Thunder
1:30 PM CT on ABC.
Yes, again. While this mini-series was planned, the extra match-up in Vegas was not. Can the Spurs pull out a Christmas miracle and beat what will likely be a team out for blood on their own court? The odds say no, but with this team, anything can happen.
