Game 4: Thunder 105, Spurs 93

(1) This is the story of a game (2) Quotable (3) What went wrong again? (4) Standout Spurs players (5) A tough night for some players

The San Antonio Spurs fell to 1-3 after a 12-point loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder Wednesday on the road. The Spurs are now 0-2 on the road, but luckily for them, they have a chance to get their first road win Thursday in a back-to-back in Utah.

(1) This is the story of a game

The Spurs jumped out to an early 6-point lead in the first quarter, but then the Thunder responded and opened their first double digit lead. At the end of one, the Spurs were only down by 7 points. The Thunder created separation from the Spurs in the second, by forcing turnovers and drilling 3-pointer after 3-pointer, and going into halftime, the Spurs were in a 15-point hole. The Spurs chipped at the Thunder lead in the third and got as close as 7 in the quarter, but the Thunder were up 12 going into the final quarter. The Spurs battled early in the quarter, getting the Thunder lead back down to 7, but Oklahoma City responded with a late run and led by 19 points with 3.5 minutes left. From there, Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich pulled the Spurs’ starters.

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(2) Quotable

• "I'm still figuring that out too. We're still learning how to play off one another. He's not like anybody I've ever played with, so it's not so easy to do this or to do that. I've never seen a guy at that height do dribble-step backs and I've never set ball screens for a 7-foot guy. So I'm still learning at the same time too."- Chris Paul at shootaround on learning to play alongside Wemby

• “I had a few things I wanted to say to my team first.” - Coach Pop on arriving late to his postgame press conference.

• “The first thing for us is to realize it’s a 48-minute game. The second half we played them even. But that’s 24 minutes, not 48. So I think that’s probably the biggest thing for us to understand that you have to bring it every quarter, every possession. And then the second thing is to take care of the ball. We gave up 27 points off turnovers again, we almost hit our record of 28 last year. We were one shy. That’s not good.” - Coach Pop on the Spurs’ consistency and turnover issues that have plagued them early in the season.

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(3) What went wrong again?

It’s only been four games this season, but the same issues have consistently been impacting the Spurs in their three losses. Most of those issues are happening on the offensive end of the floor.

• Turnovers - After turning the ball over 19 times against Dallas, 17 times in each game against Houston, the Spurs’ offense now had to face the team with the best defense in the league early in the season - OKC. After 48 minutes, the Spurs had a new season high in turnovers with 22. As Coach Pop mentioned above, the Thunder scored 27 points off those turnovers. With the Spurs once more struggling to make outside shots, the Thunder applied pressure and often sent two defenders to the ball to rush the Spurs when they moved the ball. If a pass wasn’t direct, there was a good chance the Thunder were going to steal it. 18 of the Spurs’ 22 turnovers came off Thunder steals.

• Shooting - The Spurs once more struggled to make shots from outside. The Spurs made just 33% of their shots. When that happens, the defense is able to back off perimeter shooters and put more pressure on the ball, which is what led to the Thunder forcing so many turnovers. Devin Vassell, one of the Spurs’ key 3-point shooters might make his return to the lineup some time next week, but he’s just one more option the team will add. Defenses are leaving the majority of the players on the roster open early in the season.

• Opponent 3PT shooting - While the Spurs’ overall defense has been pretty good aside from the game in Dallas, they’re getting outscored nightly from the 3-point line. The Thunder outscored the Spurs 51-36 from the 3-point line and OKC made 41% of their triples. After Jalen Green made 7 threes against the Spurs’ defense Monday, Lu Dort got his chance Wednesday by making 6 triples. The Thunder used drive-and-kick action multiple times to get Dort solid spot-up threes. The Spurs have lost the 3PT battle in all four games to open the season.

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(4) Standout Spurs Players