Stephon Castle couldn’t get San Antonio’s fourth win over the Thunder (Photo via X)
After the San Antonio Spurs defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder three times in a two week span earlier in the season, everyone in the NBA world took note. The Spurs and Thunder played for a fourth time on Tuesday night. This time, playing in front of their home fans, the defending champions pulled off a 119-98 victory.
The Spurs played well in the first half but lost their grip on the game in the third quarter, which saw OKC win the period by a count of 40-24. The loss dropped the good guys to a record of 27-13, while the Thunder improved to 34-7.
Stats: Spurs at Thunder
Spurs at Thunder – Final Grades
Victor Wembanyama
It was stressful watching Wembanyama play against the Thunder. It seemed like he was in pain while holding a different body part every few minutes. To his credit, Wembanyama held up pretty well against OKC’s physicality. Unfortunately, his impact on both ends wasn’t at his normal level. Defensively, the Thunder were able to find ways to neutralize his rim protection. Offensively, Wembanyama lacked his usual efficiency. He hit fewer than half of his shots from the field and had only one assist. But, yeah, he played hard and only turned it over once — so it’s difficult to be too disappointed with how the team’s franchise player performed.
Grade: C
De’Aaron Fox
Fox shot well from all ranges and only turned the ball over twice while totaling five assists. Despite the efficiency, Fox was somewhat underwhelming. The issue was that he needed to do more. Nine field goal attempts isn’t enough, especially when his one-on-one shot-making ability is one of San Antonio’s biggest strengths when going against Oklahoma City. Fox was pretty good defensively but, all in all, the Spurs simply needed more from their star guard.
Grade: B-
Stephon Castle
After a lot of recent struggles, Castle bounced back with a good game against the reigning champs. Most notably, Castle was 3-for-5 from three-point range to power his 20-point, eight-assist, seven-rebound performance. His defensive energy was relentless and he competed at a high level. Regrettably, he lost some value by turning the ball over five times and suffering from iffy decision-making at times.
Grade: B+
Julian Champagnie
Champagnie played well once again. He’s shooting the ball with a palpable amount of confidence and his quick trigger is forcing teams to pick him up early. His defense and rebounding were both plusses. Champagnie also didn’t turn it over and mostly avoided needless fouls.
Grade: B+
Harrison Barnes
Yikes. The bigger the game, the smaller Barnes seems to perform. The latest example saw him shoot 1-for-7 and finish without a rebound in 24 minutes against the Thunder. That … is not acceptable production. Barnes had a couple hustle plays on defense and limited his errors but the Spurs definitely need more tangible production from their veteran leader.
Grade: D+
Dylan Harper
This was a step in the right direction for Harper. He didn’t play particularly well, mind you, but he did better than he has in any recent game. Harper hit 2-of-3 three-pointers, handed out three assists in 26 minutes and mostly played a clean brand of basketball. Let’s hope he can get back to finishing at the basket soon because that was the rookie’s biggest strength early in his campaign.
Grade: B
Keldon Johnson
This was mostly a forgettable night at the office for Johnson. He was only 1-for-5 from three-point land, didn’t get to the free throw line, corralled just three rebounds and played sub par defense. His lack of footspeed on the perimeter was particularly glaring versus the Thunder. Despite Johnson’s shortcomings, his effort was never an issue.
Grade: C
Luke Kornet
Kornet played well in his first stint. He was dominating on the boards, active on defense and never gave up on offense. Unfortunately, Kornet’s impact decreased as the game went along. He was still playing hard but he had a more difficult time impacting the proceedings.
Grade: B
Lindy Waters III
Waters was more aggressive than usual but, sadly, it didn’t pay off. He was only 1-for-5 from the field in 13 minutes. He exhibited smarts and toughness on defense but he was at best neutral on that end of the court.
Grade: C
Mitch Johnson
Welp, I guess it is possible for these Spurs to lose to the Thunder. I thought Johnson did well enough from a coaching standpoint. The rotation made sense, he dealt with Wembanyama’s minutes restriction fine and San Antonio’s gameplans on both ends were smart.
Grade: B-