OffRtg: 116.6 (8) DefRtg: 111.2 (3) NetRtg: +5.4 (5) Pace: 101.0 (14)
The Spurs are just 4-5 since their consecutive wins over the Thunder the week of Christmas, a stretch that includes losses to the Jazz, Blazers and Grizzlies. But they got a good win in Boston on Saturday and remain in second place in the West.
Three takeaways
1. The Spurs scored 129.3 points per 100 possessions over those two late-December wins over the Thunder, two of Oklahoma City’s three worst defensive games of the season. But the Spurs rank 28th offensively (109.1 points scored per 100) since Christmas, with shooting struggles from multiple guys in their rotation. Harrison Barnes (37.7%), Stephon Castle (36.3%) and Dylan Harper (34.8%) rank 146th, 147th and 148th in effective field goal percentage among the 148 players with at least 65 field goal attempts since Christmas, with De’Aaron Fox (44.8%) also in the bottom 12.
2. But in beating the Lakers and Celtics last week, the Spurs held two top-10 offenses (at the time) to a combined 93 points per 100 possessions, with the win over the Celtics on Saturday being the only time Boston has been held under a point per possession. They were coming off a game where they scored a season-high 62 points in the paint, but shot just 18-for-36 in the paint against San Antonio, also tallying just four free throw attempts. De’Aaron Fox had the biggest defensive play of the night, stripping Jaylen Brown with the Spurs up two in the final minute.
3. After three games coming off the bench, Victor Wembanyama was back in the starting lineup on Sunday, when the Spurs opened the game on a 16-0 run and outscored the Wolves by 17 points in his 27 minutes on the floor. But Wembanyama’s minutes on the bench were rough, the Spurs blew a 19-point lead and missed two shots for the win on their final possession. They’ve now been 13.1 points per 100 possessions better with Wembanyama on the floor (plus-13.6) than they’ve been with him off the floor (plus-0.5).
Coming up: The Spurs will finish their tough, three-game trip with another meeting with the champs. They’ve outscored the Thunder by 47 points (32.6 per 100 possessions) in Wembanyama’s 70 total minutes over the first three games.