The OKC Thunder and San Antonio Spurs double overtime match featured treys, multiple career first, a brutal whistle and what became the NBA game of the year!
The result won’t leave you smiling but there were a myriad of positives to pull from the OKC Thunder loss to the San Antonio Spurs. Hence, this version of the key takeaways features more than our typical fare of three insights.
Although I’m a bit biased this game was easily the most intense and exciting game of the NBA season. It offered a bit of everything between career bests, crazy stats, and double overtime. Unfortunately, it also was extremely frustrating given the OKC Thunder couldn’t seem to get one call to go their way (more on this later).
The Spurs entered having played the night prior and with a 1-5 record on second games of back to back sets. Yet, it was San Antonio who looked like the rested squad in the early going. Not to mention their legs clearly showed no ill effects from the loss in Memphis as San Antonio went on an absolutely insane 10 for 10 from deep in the early going. This torrid perimeter shooting continued as San Antonio hit their first 14 treys without missing.
This is awesome basketball. Russell Westbrook is incredible. https://t.co/KWm2YI43Qn
— Dime (@DimeUPROXX) January 11, 2019
One of the best points made regarding the Spurs came (from guys on Inside the NBA) who noted the Spurs don’t just jack up treys. Rather, their reserve players like Marco Belinelli and Davis Bertans take those shots because they are adept at making them. It’s likely why the Spurs boast the best perimeter efficiency but rank dead last in attempts per game (24.2) and 24th in makes (9.8) per game.
The frustrating part of the first half was the Thunder didn’t push the pace or attack the Spurs. Even Gregg Popovich (who made history of his own) stated the Spurs priority was transition defense. Why? Because of concerns on how fast the Thunder pace would be. Alternatively, OKC instead of defending the perimeter chose to concentrate on transition and paint defense. A miscalculation by Billy Donovan or the team not executing to the game plan — I’m not sure which.
In spite of everything that went wrong early, the brutal whistle late and the insanely accurate perimeter shooting of San Antonio the OKC Thunder battled back pushing the game into overtime in what was (at least for this scribe) the most enjoyable and exciting game of the year.
With that let’s dive into the takeaways.