Thunder make hay while Wembanyama’s star fades to beat Spurs
Luguentz Dort poured in 20 points Wednesday night, leading the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 105-93 victory over the visiting San Antonio Spurs and keeping their undefeated streak intact.
The highly anticipated matchup between the Thunder’s Chet Holmgren and the Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama, two of the league’s top young big men, never fully unfolded.
Wembanyama limped to the locker room after seemingly injuring his foot during a post-up in the second quarter and struggled to make an impact upon his return. The reigning NBA Rookie of the Year ended the night with a career-low six points, shooting just 1-of-5 from the field, while also grabbing eight rebounds. Remarkably, he didn’t attempt a single shot in the second half.
Wembanyama has been held to fewer than 10 points four times in his first 75 career games, with two of those instances occurring against Oklahoma City.
The Thunder took advantage after Wembanyama went down, with Holmgren scoring seven points during a 14-7 run to help Oklahoma City stretch its lead to 42-26 at the 7:15 mark of the second quarter.
Holmgren, who finished as runner-up to Wembanyama for top rookie honors, had 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting, along with five rebounds and two blocks. He made all three of his 3-point attempts as the Thunder made a season-high 17 from beyond the arc, including 13 before halftime. Oklahoma City also tallied a season-best 28 assists.
The Thunder led by 19 in the first half and maintained a double-digit cushion, again leading by 19 in the third quarter before the Spurs pulled within 82-75 with 10:23 left in the fourth. A 9-2 Oklahoma City run put the hosts in control once again.
Harrison Barnes led San Antonio with 18 points, while Jeremy Sochan added 17 points and nine rebounds.
The Thunder racked up 18 steals and converted 22 San Antonio turnovers into 27 points.
Opponents are averaging 94.75 points per game against Oklahoma City, which is 4-0 for the first time since the 2016-17 season.
After Boston’s loss at Indiana earlier in the night, the Thunder and the Cleveland Cavaliers are the only undefeated teams in the league.
