The Spurs’ three-guard look gave OKC the one thing it needed to erase Wembanyama

All eyes were on the Spurs' new starting lineup when the Thunder rolled into town for opening night in the NBA, and the results were less than stellar. It wasn't a complete disaster, but it was pretty close to that, especially looking at Victor Wembanyama's 1-13 output. That was the second time Wemby has played a full game and only made one basket. The first was on October 30, 2024 against Oklahoma City.

OKC was a tough opponent to start the new trifecta of point guards. That's an experienced, championship-level team with a lot of size, athleticism, and shooting. Throw in the great coaching Mark Daigneault provides, and San Antonio was looking at a tough task. I can admit that here, no matter how much I troll their fans on social media.

With the 116-104 loss on Tuesday night, the Silver and Black provided plenty to discuss, so let's jump right into the good, bad, and very ugly of the night, with a focus on the offense because I thought the defense was fine for much of the game. OKC was motivated for revenge after losing in the WCF, and they hit some tough shots, especially early. It happens.

Good: Fox looks quick and explosive

De'Aaron Fox looks to be back in his bag physically. Besides his apparent Incredible Hulk-level strength (Fox couldn't have thrown Chet that hard), he was quick off the dribble, and he showed the burst Spurs fans were hoping to see since he was traded from Sacramento.

Swipa turned in a 14-7-7 stat line and shot 66.7% from the field—the highest among starters. The bigger question for him is: if he's actually back to his prime form, will nine shots be enough? That's all the 2x All-Star took tonight, and I'm sure the number won't always be that low, but nine is still pretty low for a guard of his caliber in his prime.

Bad: Carter Bryant is still going for pump fakes

Spurs Nation has high hopes for CB. Now is his time to show what he's improved and what he's learned. Once Tobias Harris returns, there will be fewer minutes to go around at the forward position. Bryant needed to play well enough to keep Harrison Barnes on the bench, but HB ended up playing nine minutes to his six.

Part of that is probably because he couldn't make a shot (0-3), but a bigger problem was his undisciplined defense. Carter is so athletic and explosive, and he's so hungry to prove himself that he seems too eager.

He gets himself out of position too often, and after playing OKC in the Western Conference Finals for seven games, you'd think he'd learn to stop biting on every SGA pump fake, but he can't seem to do it.

Very ugly: The Spurs' spacing looked horrible and the offense was disjointed

It's not that the Thunder didn't guard the three, so they could suffocate the paint. It's that they were able to decide who to defend, depending on whether they respected your shooting ability. Devin Vassell and Julian Champagnie didn't get as many open looks as Fox, Stephon Castle, and Dylan Harper. Castle started knocking his down as the game went on, but plenty of damage was already done by then.

Whenever Victor Wembanyama got the ball, he had four or five of Oklahoma City's elite defenders staring at him. A new system and an intense defense highly focused on his every move seemed to lead to indecision from the Alien. Lack of clarity led to a game that wasn't fun for Wemby, and "fun-loving" is a core part of who the towering Frenchman is as a player.

"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" - Wemby to reporters after the game.

The Spurs want to play fast, pressure the ball, and attack the paint, but OKC is good enough to slow them down, make them pay for over-aggressiveness, and, while San Antonio has the best shot-blocker possibly in NBA history, the Thunder have multiple rim protectors and rangy defenders swiping at the ball who make scoring inside difficult. That's why spacing is so important when facing them.

The Silver and Black have some very skilled downhill drivers, so they still managed to outscore the Thunder in the lane (48-42), but that wasn't enough to make up for the poor field goal and three-point percentages (38.7% FG and 27% 3PT).

I'm not sure if it's time to panic yet. This is just one data point for the new norm, and change often feels weird until it doesn't. Mitch Johnson offered reporters an analogy before the game about the time it takes a flower to grow, comparing it to the lengthy process it can sometimes take for new approaches to work well. His message was to have patience.

I don't know much about gardening, but I know poor spacing will lose you games in the NBA. So, whether the Spurs need water, sunshine, or another lineup change, they'd better figure it out, or that number one seed they set a goal for will slip from their grasp before they ever wrap their fingers around it.

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