The Thunder’s impressive start to the season has been undermined by consecutive losses to the Spurs.
SAN ANTONIO — The Thunder started the new season looking unstoppable.
They matched the best 25-game start ever, achieved only by the 2015-16 Warriors, going 24-1, enjoyed a 16-game win streak, and boasted the NBA’s best defensive rating by a wide margin.
Indeed, the Thunder looked invincible, until they met the San Antonio Spurs.
In their first meeting of the season, San Antonio got the better of the Thunder during the NBA Cup Tournament, beating them 111-109 to advance. In their next meeting in San Antonio, the Spurs cruised to a 130-110 win, then stunned the Thunder 117-102 in Oklahoma City on Christmas Day.
The once seemingly unstoppable Thunder find themselves 0-3 to the Spurs. A fact that has OKC’s All-Star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander admitting the obvious: San Antonio is the better team.
“You don’t lose to a team three times in a row without them being better than you,” Gilgeous-Alexander said following the team’s loss to the Spurs. “We have to get better. We have to look in the mirror, and that’s everybody from top to bottom.”
The Spurs are proving to be the Thunder’s kryptonite this season for many reasons.
The Spurs present the Thunder with a balanced scoring attack, thanks to their roster depth. De’Aaron Fox scored 29 points on Christmas Day, Keldon Johnson paced the Spurs with 25 on Dec. 23, and Stephon Castle recorded 24 on Dec. 23. In addition, the Spurs get contributions from everyone, from Harrison Barnes, Devin Vassell, Julian Champagnie and Dylan Harper.
The Thunder have yet to flex their depth versus the Spurs.
“We can use everybody on the court. We’re never going to let the talent of one guy take away from the collective. That’s what allows us to beat great teams like that,” Victor Wembanyama said.
Also, Wembanyama presents a huge (pun intended) problem for the Thunder. Off the bench in their meetings this season, he’s been a defensive disruptor, forcing the Thunder to alter their potent offense whenever he is on the court.
The Spurs’ offense has thwarted the OKC’s defense. San Antonio had scored 90-plus points total in the third period in their Dec. 23 meeting, and outscored OKC 43-28 in the fourth period in the same game.
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to why the Spurs have the Thunder’s number this season.
“We learned a lot on the tactical side (of the Thunder), but I think I don’t want to say too much, but I want to keep some for us, but we definitely got some intelligence,” said Wembanyama after the Christmas Day win.
The Thunder will have a couple more shots at beating the Spurs this season, with games on Jan. 13 and Feb. 4.
But if recent history is any indication, the Spurs might keep lowering the boom on the Thunder.