Spurs' pathetic loss to heated rival is reason to hit the panic button

On Tuesday night, the Spurs set out for their fourth matchup of the year against the Thunder with high expectations. The squad hoped to cement its ownership of Oklahoma City by beating them once again. Instead, they embarrassed themselves. San Antonio lost 119-98, and it wasn't at all pretty.

The Thunder aren't 21 points better than the Spurs; our guys shot themselves in the foot multiple times. A couple of those bullets slipped into our players' shooting hands as well. The squad has completely lost its composure lately, and this damning defeat revealed their struggles to the entire world. It may be time to slam the panic button.

The Spurs offense is a complete train wreck

There's no sugarcoating it; the Spurs offense is a disaster right now. The once top-five offense has melted down into an amalgamation of disgusting hoops. All of the optimism we had for this squad is fading in an instant. 2026 is off to a terrible start.

There are so many reasons to be frustrated by the Spurs right now. The first of those 13 reasons why is Harrison Barnes. HB began the season as one of the hottest shooters in the league. But ever since his scalding hot start to the year, he has fallen off the rails. But this isn't just a return to the mean; Barnes has been terrible. Tonight's two points in 23 minutes were a reflection of that.

Similarly, De'Aaron Fox has suffered a huge drop-off. Through the first 30 games, the former All-Star looked like he was having a rejuvenated season and was dropping 20+ points a night. Then, something changed.

The usually charged-up point guard has lost his aggression and force on the floor. He can barely get a shot to fall, and his command of the offense has tapered off. Mitch Johnson needs to get this man right.

While I can't go into the difficulties of every single Spur, just know that this team is in deep mud. If the struggles continue, don't worry, I will get to the rest.

San Antonio has to make a drastic change

When a team gets into this poor of a shooting slump, it is the head coach's and front office's responsibility to make a change. After suffering an embarrassing loss in primetime, along with several other errors, the time to do something is now.

On the front office side of things, they can't be afraid to make the obvious move. The Spurs desperately need an injection of shooting. Given that Jeremy Sochan is already on the verge of leaving, we must expedite the process. Take him, another contract, and a pick to go get a sniper. I don't care who it is, but it must be done.

As for the coaching staff, they must make an adjustment. The strategies that worked in the past are no longer effective. Teams have caught on to the Spurs' flaws and are viciously attacking them. Mitch Johnson needs to get in the lab and rearrange this squad. Whether it's lineup changes or schematic differences, something has got to give.

I hate to overreact, but a loss like this makes it hard not to. Yes, the Thunder are the best team in the league, but the Spurs have proven that they can beat them handily. I hope this devastating defeat sparks something in this unit, because right now, they are not pleasant to watch.