Game Thread Spurs (17-7) vs Thunder (24-1) (Sat 12/13/25) [8:00PM CDT]

[dn0774]

They'll probably stick Jdub or Caruso on him. Victor needs to figure out how to use his size to punish teams that do this instead of bailing them out. Until then good teams will continue putting smaller defenders on him

Wemby doesn't hit the offensive glass much in the NBA (due to often being perimeter oriented and also different goal tend rules) but in the Olympics last year he had some nice stretches with lots of put backs etc, including against USA. I really think it's an aspect he could focus on for smaller stretches of games while letting our guards cook if his own offense ain't working great that night.

 

[Neuromancer]

Probably never going to happen, but if they really put a 6'4" guy on him, I would just tell Vic to hang around the dunker spot all game long. Punish them with offensive rebounds, putbacks, drop offs, lobs, etc. Make his length be felt near the basket. Caruso and JDub would also be very useless as rim protecters against the drives of our guards.

Disagree on Jdub, they used him a lot at PF last year and he was surprisedly good at rim protection for his size

 

[dn0774]

Disagree on Jdub, they used him a lot at PF last year and he was surprisedly good at rim protection for his size

I seem to recall his standing reaching being that of a big due to his ridiculous wing span. He is effectively a big in many scenarios.

 

[DAF86]

Disagree on Jdub, they used him a lot at PF last year and he was surprisedly good at rim protection for his size

If Gobbert isn't doing much to stop our guards from getting to the rim at will, JDub is certainly not doing it, imho.

 

[Exstatic]

They don't need to put them on our other guards. Their entire team is full of elite defensive players. They use Jdub on Wemby and they can still put Dort and Wallace or SGA on the other guards. Or Caruso. They just have too many elite defenders. If Victor cannot punish teams for playing him small it's going to be difficult to ever overcome OKC

Then who takes bully ball Keldon? Or wide open Devin?

What I’d really like to see, if Hartenstein is out, is French Vanilla, cleaning the glass and owning it on those undersized turds.

 

[Neuromancer]

Then who takes bully ball Keldon? Or wide open Devin?

What I’d really like to see, if Hartenstein is out, is French Vanilla, cleaning the glass and owning it on those undersized turds.

You guys are joking right? You think the friendship crew is the solution to OKC?

OKC has an elite big that can protect the paint on Keldons drives. As for Vassell, dude is more likely to lay an egg than make an impact. And again, their entire team is full of elite defenders. They put JDub on Vic, Dort on Fox, Wallace on Castle and let SGA guard Vassell because I guarantee OKC is not worried about that matchup defensively at all

This is an all time great team, maybe the best ever or top 5 ever at worst. The Spurs will need to play flawlessly to beat them

 

[Neuromancer]

If Gobbert isn't doing much to stop our guards from getting to the rim at will, JDub is certainly not doing it, imho.

Agree to disagree. We'll find out soon enough tbh

Gobert is overrated af

 

[NASpurs]

Zach Lowe hinted at this on the post-game last night... but we'll look back on this as the true kick off to a rivalry that is going to span the next 5+ years.

Post game on Prime?

Just trying to see if it's online somewhere.

 

[timtonymanu]

Homer pick: Spurs will win.

If they don’t, who cares? Enjoy the ride.

 

[spurraider21]

Why?

as far as i know im the only one here who lives here in Vegas where the game will be played. i'd been particularly interested in the cup this year due to the chance of the spurs getting at least one game over here

and i hadnt started a game thread yet... had been saving it up

 

[Exstatic]

You guys are joking right? You think the friendship crew is the solution to OKC?

OKC has an elite big that can protect the paint on Keldons drives. As for Vassell, dude is more likely to lay an egg than make an impact. And again, their entire team is full of elite defenders. They put JDub on Vic, Dort on Fox, Wallace on Castle and let SGA guard Vassell because I guarantee OKC is not worried about that matchup defensively at all

Is Chet going to play 48 minutes?

And who’s on Harper?

OKC has a basket of great defenders, but what you’re not seeing is that these guys usually get to rest by guarding a lesser player, most games. There won’t be any of that Saturday night. I also think their bench is perhaps glazed a bit too much. They’ve only had to finish games that were already 30-40 point blowouts. Let’s see how they do when the game is on the line, and SGA and Jalen are sitting.

 

[spurs10]

Go get this win Spurs. As for OKC, 'everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face.'

 

[Neuromancer]

Is Chet going to play 48 minutes?

And who’s on Harper?

OKC has a basket of great defenders, but what you’re not seeing is that these guys usually get to rest by guarding a lesser player, most games. There won’t be any of that Saturday night. I also think their bench is perhaps glazed a bit too much. They’ve only had to finish games that were already 30-40 point blowouts. Let’s see how they do when the game is on the line, and SGA and Jalen are sitting.

Is Keldon going to play 48 minutes? Is Harper? and yeah they have other good defenders they can put on Harper (Wiggins, Mitchell).

Also how they do when the game is on the line?? They literally won the championship last year in a sudden death game

Come on guys. Nothing I'm saying are hot takes. OKC are the defending champs and they're 24-1 largely without their second best player for most of it. Acting like they need to solve the Spurs guards when it's clearly the other way around is some massive level homer take imho

 

[spursfanfromafar]

Lowe didn't say much about the Spurs matching up except that we have three speedy guards but the Thunder is loaded with defensive wings who are stopping everything. And then he said that among the field outside of Thunder only Denver posed a true threat.

His view apart, I feel that when Wemby is back (if Mitch Johnson is to be believed), the Spurs will finally be full strength. While the SL will be Fox, Castle, Devin, Barnes and Wemby ..I want to see Wemby partner with Harper for some minutes. Their P&R/ two man game, I think can be devastating. Even the bench with Harper, Keldon, Champs and Kornet should compete well.

Wemby should stay out of foul trouble but be aggressive in the paint and nullify the Thunder's drivers. And on offense, he should play more of a facilitator for the guards with screens and rolling to the rim instead of posting up or isos, unless there are broken plays where he needs to bail out the offense.

Fox and Harper found it tough against Suggs, Isaac, Black and the lot and they will find OKC a higher version of that perimeter defense in Dort, the underrated Cason Wallace, Caruso, SGA himself, Mitchell and JDub. But they also had very good moments, especially Harper against the Magic. Stay aggressive on attack, find the open man if Wemby and them are drawing defenders and hopefully the shooters shoot accurately.

I may be too optimistic but I smell a decent chance. Let's see.

 

[scott]

Post game on Prime?

Just trying to see if it's online somewhere.

Yes, the Prime Studio Post game, which btw... is really good. Amazon really knocked it out of the park with their presentation... aside from Eagle and SVG's Laker Slurping

 

[RC_Drunkford]

A lot of interesting stuff to pay attention to. I assume Wemby will be back. Curious to see what the gameplan looks like.

OKC averages 24 points off turnovers, so Wemby, Castle and Fox can not get cute with the ball or we are toast.

OKC fouls a lot and Wemby + our guards know how to get to the line. I‘d say try to get in the bonus early, shoot a lot of FTs and get their players in foul trouble

How do we stop SGA and his 50 FTs per night?

And how do we guard the midrange? That‘s OKC‘s bread and butter and the shot we usually give teams.

 

[spurraider21]

Lowe didn't say much about the Spurs matching up except that we have three speedy guards but the Thunder is loaded with defensive wings who are stopping everything. And then he said that among the field outside of Thunder only Denver posed a true threat.

yeah i mean im struggling to think of how you would build a team to "match up well" with OKC considering how many different and versatile defensive pieces they have. they defend guards well. they defend wings well. hartenstein defends bigs well, and chet cleans up.

the reason denver is thrown around is because usually jokic is just ridiculous enough to warp the game where gameplans and defensive talent sort of goes out the window, and frankly caruso got away with absurd fouls in that game 7 last year all game. its also why dallas was able to overcome them with Luka magic in the 2024 playoffs, as Luka is basically immune to defense

the one thing you cannot afford to due against OKC is get mentally fatigued. they are going to have their runs where they get a couple of steals/blocks in a row and runout to some points, but you have to cant check out. while i would worry that guys like vassell and even wemby may sulk and then just have lazy possessions with bad shots, at least i have faith that castle, keldon, fox will be hardheaded and continue to attack and drive amidst the noise to slow the game back down

 

[CrustyCoastBendFan]

What if—just hear this out—Mark Daigneault, Sam Presti, Clay Bennett, or any combination of them decided to play mind games with the young Spurs? Pull a classic CIA Pop-style move. What if they intentionally tanke the game to get some rest? Bench the Starters. Do they really care as much as the media and the fans about the all-time regular season record or the NBA Emirates Cup?

 

[Itzsoweezee]

You guys are joking right? You think the friendship crew is the solution to OKC?

OKC has an elite big that can protect the paint on Keldons drives. As for Vassell, dude is more likely to lay an egg than make an impact. And again, their entire team is full of elite defenders. They put JDub on Vic, Dort on Fox, Wallace on Castle and let SGA guard Vassell because I guarantee OKC is not worried about that matchup defensively at all

This is an all time great team, maybe the best ever or top 5 ever at worst. The Spurs will need to play flawlessly to beat them

If okc can get away with jdub on Wemby, then SA has some serious problems to fix.

 

[NASpurs]

I found the Zach Lowe post game commentary

 

[Exstatic]

What if—just hear this out—Mark Daigneault, Sam Presti, Clay Bennett, or any combination of them decided to play mind games with the young Spurs? Pull a classic CIA Pop-style move. What if they intentionally tanke the game to get some rest? Bench the Starters. Do they really care as much as the media and the fans about the all-time regular season record or the NBA Emirates Cup?

The players wouldn’t stand for it. There’s money on the line.

 

[inagra]

^ Lowe has a signed 8x11 of Tim Duncan in the background.

He has constantly kept the beautiful game spurs chatter alive…

 

[SupremeGuy]

There's no pressure on us...everybody expects us to get beat... we can play fast and free without worry... this should be a fun test..

Stupid OKC is playing out of their minds right now. The high doesn't last forever. I think they're starting to get worried. Which makes me feel like the pressure is on us to give them their release. Sounds real tim walzian but yeah.

 

[Neuromancer]

Stupid OKC is playing out of their minds right now. The high doesn't last forever. I think they're starting to get worried. Which makes me feel like the pressure is on us to give them their release. Sounds real tim walzian but yeah.

Starting to get worried about what? They're blowing teams out every night and their stars are resting most 4th quarters. They are so far ahead of anyone else it's crazy. I guarantee they aren't worried about anything

 

[spurraider21]

Shai is playing his least minutes per game since his rookie year... and this has come during a year where J-Dub has missed 19 games

OKC is not pressing, they are simply lapping the field right now