All eyes were on San Antonio’s new starting lineup when Oklahoma City came to town for opening night, and the first look was rough in a way that’s hard to ignore. The Spurs didn’t get blown out of the gym, but the 116-104 loss on Tuesday night left plenty to sort through, especially after Victor Wembanyama finished 1-for-13 from the field. It was the second time in his career he played a full game and made only one basket, and the first came on October 30, 2024 against Oklahoma City.
That matchup mattered for more than just the score. The Thunder arrived with championship-level size, athleticism and shooting, plus the kind of coaching Mark Daigneault has made a habit of maximizing. San Antonio was already facing a stiff ask in the first game of its new trio of point guards, and OKC made that challenge look even bigger.
Still, there were a few things worth liking from the Spurs’ side. De’Aaron Fox looked like the bursty, downhill force San Antonio had been waiting for.
He was quick off the dribble and played with the kind of physical pop that stood out right away. Fox finished with 14 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, shot 66.7% from the field, and led all Spurs starters in that department.
The question now is whether he’ll get enough volume. He took only nine shots, which is a pretty light night for a guard of his caliber if this is the version of him the Spurs are getting.
The bigger issues were easier to spot. Carter Bryant’s night was bumpy, and not just because the shot wasn’t falling.
He went 0-for-3 and spent too much time chasing fakes and putting himself out of position defensively. Spurs fans have plenty of hope for Bryant, but this was not the kind of game that helps him hold off Harrison Barnes for minutes once Tobias Harris returns.
Barnes ended up logging nine minutes to Bryant’s six.
The ugliest part of the night was the offense itself. Oklahoma City didn’t just defend the Spurs; it made them choose who to trust.
The Thunder could load up differently depending on who they were guarding, and that meant Devin Vassell and Julian Champagnie didn’t see the same kind of open looks that Fox, Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper did. Castle started to find some rhythm later, but the damage was already being done by then.
Wembanyama, meanwhile, was staring at traffic every time he touched the ball. Oklahoma City had four or five elite defenders in his line of sight possession after possession, and the combination of a new system and relentless attention seemed to drag him into hesitation.
After the game, he said, “I need to go back to playing the basketball I like. This is not the sport I like right here.
I got no reason to be hesitant, no reason to not be myself. For me, it's as simple as that.
I'm good when I have fun”
That’s the heart of the problem for San Antonio against a team like this. The Spurs want to play fast, pressure the ball and attack the paint, but the Thunder are built to punish over-aggression and make life miserable inside. Even with Wembanyama’s rim protection on one end, Oklahoma City has multiple shot-blockers and long defenders who make scoring at the rim a grind.
San Antonio still managed to outscore the Thunder in the lane, 48-42, but that wasn’t enough to offset the shooting numbers. The Spurs shot 38.7% from the field and 27% from three, and that kind of spacing issue makes everything harder against Oklahoma City.
It’s not panic time yet. Mitch Johnson tried to frame the process before the game with a flower-growing analogy, explaining that new ideas can take time to take root.
Maybe so. But poor spacing in the NBA doesn’t wait around for patience.
If the Spurs don’t sort this out, the number one seed they’ve set as a goal could slip away before they ever get their hands on it.
In Other News...
Spurs Are Building Something In Austin Fans Can't Ignore
The Spurs have been making a very visible push up the road in Austin, and it has gone well beyond the usual outreach pitch. Through community engagement and growing ties with the University of Texas athletics department, the organization has steadily built a presence that feels deliberate, not accidental, with the Longhorns basketball program becoming a prominent part of that relationship. The connection has been strengthened by upcoming games and mutual support, giving San Antonio a foothold in a market that has plenty of basketball interest of its own.
Kevin Durants link to Texas only adds to the intrigue around that presence. The former Longhorn, now with the Houston Rockets, still has strong ties to the program and is expected to get a warm reception when he plays in Austin, a reminder of how much the city values its basketball roots. For the Spurs, the bigger picture is just as important, because their growing visibility there suggests they are trying to make Austin feel less like a neighbor and more like part of their basketball footprint. [Read more 🡒]
Wembanyama's New Deal Changes The Spurs' Castle And Harper Timeline
Victor Wembanyamas new five-year maximum rookie extension gives the Spurs a major financial anchor while also creating some breathing room around the rest of the roster. By reportedly coming in below the supermax, the deal is not just a headline number for San Antonios franchise centerpiece, it also changes the way the team can plan around him, especially as it tries to keep young talent together.
That flexibility matters because the Spurs are already thinking about the next layer of their core, with Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper both part of the broader roster-construction picture. A contract of this size for Wembanyama would normally tighten the screws elsewhere, but in this case it opens the door for San Antonio to explore market-value extensions and build with more options as those decisions come due. [Read more 🡒]
Tim Duncans Final Spurs Years Look Even Rarer Right Now
Tim Duncans late-career run with the Spurs is looking even more unusual in the context of modern NBA aging curves. While other stars like Kevin Garnett, Dirk Nowitzki, Dwyane Wade and Kobe Bryant spent their final years on teams that had clearly slipped out of true contention, Duncan kept San Antonio winning at a high clip and in the playoff picture right through the back end of his career.
That contrast feels especially sharp as Stephen Curry and the Warriors navigate an uneven start to this season. Curry has not suggested retirement, and Golden State still has plenty of time to turn things around, but the broader point is hard to miss: Duncans ability to stay attached to a consistently strong team deep into his career remains a rare standard for the league. [Read more 🡒]