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

scott said:
The players and teams obviously care about the Cup... bizarre to me that anyone would suggest otherwise.

I do think the NBA can add a little more spice to the pot however.

If they wanted to match it up to the stakes of European Futbol, the could have the winner of the Cup getting automatic placement to the play-in.... but every team that has played in an NBA Cup Final to date (a total of 4 teams) has been a playoff team that season anyway... so I don't think that it is necessary.

I think another idea could be that if winning team gets automatic Play-In Berth *or* if the team is a play-off team anyway, then they get some kind of enhancement to their FRP (maybe a 5 pick bump, or to the 15th pick, which ever is lower)
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At the very least it should count as the end all be all tiebreaker in any tie scenario

Two team, three team, division, conference, doesn’t matter. trumps head to head or whatever else you have going on
 
You don't need to add any specific incentive, time will do the work and having your name on the list will matter more and more.
 
PanameSpur said:
Counterpoint : idgaf about the title itself, it's about reaching a goal, even smaller than the NBA title and winning as a group.

Technically, you're right, a loss wouldn't count for the ranking nor would be dramatic, but winning is a habit, the same way you want to win any game you play, they should be hungry and I want to see them treat it like a PO game, not a RS one.

Big part of this roster has been tanking and not won much these last seasons, KJ Devin Vic or even Fox need that win. Mitch as well.
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That sounds fine. I guess I’m thinking I’m more excited about last night’s win than I would be about the next game, and if they lay an egg because they just blew their wad and can’t get amped the same way, I don’t think it means a lot. OKC lost last year and didn’t really look very inspired in defeat. And words can’t describe how little that meant.
 
scott said:
The players and teams obviously care about the Cup... bizarre to me that anyone would suggest otherwise.

I do think the NBA can add a little more spice to the pot however.

If they wanted to match it up to the stakes of European Futbol, the could have the winner of the Cup getting automatic placement to the play-in.... but every team that has played in an NBA Cup Final to date (a total of 4 teams) has been a playoff team that season anyway... so I don't think that it is necessary.

I think another idea could be that if winning team gets automatic Play-In Berth *or* if the team is a play-off team anyway, then they get some kind of enhancement to their FRP (maybe a 5 pick bump, or to the 15th pick, which ever is lower)
Click to expand...
Do you really think players are gonna play hard for a person that might come in to replace them?? They don’t care about picks. Maybe the stars who want help but not the role players who can be replaced.
 
Shmurs said:
That sounds fine. I guess I’m thinking I’m more excited about last night’s win than I would be about the next game, and if they lay an egg because they just blew their wad and can’t get amped the same way, I don’t think it means a lot. OKC lost last year and didn’t really look very inspired in defeat. And words can’t describe how little that meant.
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Where’s your competitiveness? I loved that OKC win and still been reading about it and watching highlights all day. But I’m ready for this Knicks game. I want to win. And more importantly the team wants to win. It means a lot especially knowing that you can get end of the bench guys half a million dollars that they would never usually get. JDub admitted that they wanted to win the cup. Caruso and IH looked frustrated. They are champions but they wanted it. That’s what a true competitor wants. I hate that the Lakers/Lebron won the first NBA Cup because they seemed to really influence how people felt about it just because they don’t like them. Knowing damn well they would have been happy if their team won it. I don’t discredit it. I embrace it. Let’s sweep every title!
 
Spurs ain't winning a 7 game series if that's the whistle the Thunder will get from the league, refs were only halfway in the bag for the thunder this game, and the spurs won by a possession. Every batshit insane shot the spurs made last night was an and 1 that didn't get called
 
KDKSpurs24 said:
Do you really think players are gonna play hard for a person that might come in to replace them?? They don’t care about picks. Maybe the stars who want help but not the role players who can be replaced.
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Guys like Wemby, Castle, Fox and Harper probably have a grand total of zero concerns over a 15th overall pick coming into to replace them. The Organization might care about that better pick though.

In European Football cups, there are team benefits (Europa League qualification and prize money) but as far as I know players don't get any kind of prize money unless it's specified in their contract. It doesn't stop those club's players from caring about those competitions, because they matter to the organization to which they are a part of.
 
KDKSpurs24 said:
Where’s your competitiveness? I loved that OKC win and still been reading about it and watching highlights all day. But I’m ready for this Knicks game. I want to win. And more importantly the team wants to win. It means a lot especially knowing that you can get end of the bench guys half a million dollars that they would never usually get. JDub admitted that they wanted to win the cup. Caruso and IH looked frustrated. They are champions but they wanted it. That’s what a true competitor wants. I hate that the Lakers/Lebron won the first NBA Cup because they seemed to really influence how people felt about it just because they don’t like them. Knowing damn well they would have been happy if their team won it. I don’t discredit it. I embrace it. Let’s sweep every title!
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Yep... if there is something to win, competitors will try to win it. LeBron certainly doesn't need an NBA Cup title to cement his legacy in this league... but the Lakers went out and won it. To say OKC didn't want that win is wild. I think they wanted the "treble" (to steal another European soccer term): NBA Cup, Best Record of All Time, NBA Title.
 
DTW said:
This game reminded me of game 1 of the '13 Finals, when the Spurs looked unsure of themselves until Duncan subbed in during the 2nd quarter, flipped the game on its head and the entire game seemed to carry themselves a foot taller after that.

The crazy thing is, the Spurs left more meat on the bone than the Thunder did. It's not like they had an outlier game from 3 or turnover wise. It was actually the opposite.




Even this season. The fact that they're this reliant on a 33 year old SF (he's just too slow to defend it) as their only stretch PF and now apparently small ball C, is unsettling.
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Good point. It also felt like the classic step-up in-caliber-of-opponent-you-weren't-prepared-for game for OKC. They have had by far the easiest schedule in the league and barely faced any play-offs bounds teams. I'm still skeptical of their half-court offense, but then again no other team in the league has an-alltime defensive anchor with Wembanyama's disruptive capabilities.
Interested to see how the coming home-and-home mini-series go now that we have their full attention. Good for us; for a team so collectively short on playoffs experience (outside Barnes and maybe Kornet), they couldn't have hoped for a better crucible than these 3 congested games against a Thunder team on a mission.
 
Both teams shot 41% from the floor, Spurs were a not great 31% from 3 but OKC was only 24% from 3. They missed 3 FT to our 8 though.

At the end of the day, both teams could have played better, but both teams were also going against their toughest competition of the year thus far.

Will be interesting how the next two matchups shake out.
 
I felt like Coach Mitch holding Wemby out for the first quarter was a brilliant strategy both utilitarian and psychological. He probably had to cut mins for Wemby anyway due to injury return restrictions. But instead of trimming it throughout the game, he front loads most of it in the first quarter when you can possibly recover still if things get out of hand. Leaving Wemby the 2nd, 3rd and 4th to focus his efforts and limited stamina at a time when the game matters more.

Plus OKC gets the psychological twist of feasting in the opening quarter while Wemby was absent, growing accustomed to those less contested looks, only to watch it all evaporate away when Wemby checks in 2nd quarter. Had Wemby started the game, maybe OKC gets acclimated more gradually and adjusts, maybe Wemby runs out of steam in the 4th. It really put the horse before the cart. It's kinda weird looking at the box score with Wemby off the bench lol
 
scott said:
The players and teams obviously care about the Cup... bizarre to me that anyone would suggest otherwise.

I do think the NBA can add a little more spice to the pot however.

If they wanted to match it up to the stakes of European Futbol, the could have the winner of the Cup getting automatic placement to the play-in.... but every team that has played in an NBA Cup Final to date (a total of 4 teams) has been a playoff team that season anyway... so I don't think that it is necessary.

I think another idea could be that if winning team gets automatic Play-In Berth *or* if the team is a play-off team anyway, then they get some kind of enhancement to their FRP (maybe a 5 pick bump, or to the 15th pick, which ever is lower)
Click to expand...
or replace a loss with the finals win for regular season standings
 
RC_Drunkford said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/2000488096576795109
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At this moment Jeff Van Gundy LIke
A7jS.gif


If you know YOU KNOW LOL
 
KDKSpurs24 said:
Medical team. I’m sure it’ll be raised to 25 minutes
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Way back in Pop Warner football I had a half cast for 4 weeks on my wrist. I told the coach the doctor said I could play the game after next but my Mom said I could play the very next game. I don’t even remember the outcome, just the coach asking me and what medical school did your Mom go to?

I doubt Mitch is trying to act like an MD that never went to med school in this situation. That would be idiotic.
 
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