Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports A Spurs team missing its four best players vs a motivated Thunder squad. What could go wrong? 24 hours after an exciting win against Memphis, the Spurs turned in one of the saddest (but predictable) performances in Oklahoma City. With Wemby out and the Thunder hunting for the 1-seed, even Charles Barkley could’ve predicted something akin to San Antonio’s eventual 127-89 blowout loss. The talent mismatch was evident right from tip-off. OKC built a double-digit lead after just a few minutes of play, and the Spurs started the game 0-5 from the field — including a number of wide-open flubs at the basket. Without a lob threat, San Antonio became a jump-shooting team, or should I say, a wannabe jump-shooting team. The amount of awful clanks that the Spurs generated should force the NBA to give the game an NSFW rating, and things weren’t much better on the other end, either: San Antonio began playing hot potato with the ball, resulting in four early turnovers that led to countless Josh Giddey baskets and assists, and OKC got whatever they wanted around the rim without Wemby’s disruptive presence. After the Thunder built a 20-point lead, Mark Daigneault started playing his bench more. The problem, though, was that OKC’s reserves are still light years ahead of what the Spurs have. Gordon Hayward, Kenrich Williams, Isaiah Joe, and “Big” Jaylin Williams all got more run, and yet the Thunder’s lead didn’t dwindle. Those guys are all capable of playmaking and shooting, and San Antonio continued having trouble keeping up with their pace and ball movement. By the end of the first half, OKC had already racked up 10 takeaways while generating an absurd 22 points from those possessions. With the game essentially over, the Thunder barely played their Big Three for the rest of the night. SGA and “Wing” Jaylen Williams saw less than 10 minutes of action in the second half, and Chet didn’t even make an appearance. OKC relied on Giddey to run its offense while the Spurs were still trotting out their “starting lineup,” and San Antonio’s greatest accomplishment of the game was not being dominated as bady by the Thunder’s B-team. By the fourth quarter, both teams were essentially playing their G-League rosters. I won’t even try to name half the guys on the court, and my biggest takeaway from the game was that Bismack Biyombo somehow stayed in the NBA after attempting the greatest three-pointer in human history. Jokes aside, the Thunder held on to a 40-point lead for basically the entire second half, but that’s what happens at this point in the season when one team has something to play for while the other doesn’t. Game notes - With San Antonio fielding a lineup full of “Who He Play For?” guys, it was hard not to focus more on the Thunder and their rotation. This OKC squad is fighting for the first seed in the Western Conference while still being one of the youngest teams in the league, and there’s no doubt that the Spurs will need to go through them if they hope to make deep playoff runs during the Wemby era. Given the Thunder’s plethora of big perimeter scoring options, it’s imperative that San Antonio doesn’t hitch its wagon to a small guard who’s a defensive liability, no matter how offensively dangerous he is.
- Of course, the Spurs can’t just construct their roster with one team in mind, but the league (and especially the West) does seem like it’s putting an emphasis on skillful size. This doesn’t mean that San Antonio shouldn’t inquire on the availabilities of guards such as Trae Young or Darius Garland, but they should be very careful not to acquire one of them (or someone similar) just because Wemby’s already one of the 20 best players in the league.
- Back to the current Spurs roster. While Champagnie and Branham have been two of the team’s most pleasant surprises, fans shouldn’t expect them to be any more than decent role players moving forward. The two of them combined to shoot 4-15 from the field and ended the game with a total of 12 points, 5 rebounds, and a single assist. Not having Wemby’s gravity certainly didn’t help, but it also proves that they can’t be relied upon to self-generate offense. Simply put, the Spurs need to go into the offseason with an open mind and not consider anyone untouchable outside of Wemby, Vassell, and maybe Sochan.
END Q1 | SAS 11, OKC 34 pic.twitter.com/4awXRm0vXc— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) April 11, 2024 Next game: vs Nuggets on Friday The schedule doesn’t get any easier as San Antonio is set to face the defending champs, who are also hunting for the West’s #1 seed.
Source: https://www.poundingtherock.com/2024/4/ ... ty-thunder