The San Antonio Spurs secured a commanding 130-110 win over the Thunder, extending their winning streak to seven.
SAN ANTONIO — The San Antonio Spurs beat the Thunder 130-110 at home to go 2-0 in the regular-season series. Keldon Johnson led the team with 25 points off the bench to power the team to its seventh consecutive win.
Luke Kornet had eight points and five rebounds. De’Aaron Fox scored 24, Victor Wembanyama recorded 12 and five rebounds off the bench, and Julian Champagnie had four and 10 rebounds. Harrison Barnes added 20 points. Stephon Castle had 24 points and three assists. Devin Vassell added 17.
The Spurs are 22-7 and will next visit the Thunder on Thursday for a Christmas Day matinee.
Here’s a sample of what the Spurs and Thunder said after the game.
“Sometimes physicality doesn’t show itself the same for each player just because of how they play their body type, whatever that may be. And I thought we did a great job tonight with our activity, which sometimes is how we play with our physicality, because we’re not always as big and strong, necessarily, but I thought we did a great job of initiating contact, and I thought over time, it really showed itself for us.”
“I thought we did a good job in the second half, trusting to just let the ball find the open man and let that basketball continue to chase whoever was opening so they had an opportunity to hopefully have a high percentage shot.”
“I think that this year, we’ve done a better job as a collective, being able to withstand those bouts, and I think that it’s showing up in the win column now, but I think it’s our habits and our processes that have been really just on point this year, just in terms of building.”
“We got a super deep team. Anybody can get it done on any night. Just to trust that we have in each other to play with confidence. You know, make the extra pass, turn down a good shot for a great one. When guys have great energy every day like KJ (Keldon Johnson), you’re going to have moments like that where the ball finds you in the right position.”
“(The win) tells me how much better we are from the beginning of the season. You can still get much better. Still got a few wins before we can catch up on them (Thunder), but yeah, it’s been something for sure.”
“We still have so much more to get better at. We still have so much potential still. I feel like it puts everybody in the mindset of just trying to, trying to reciprocate great games, trying to be consistent on performances, whoever that may be, and just continue to be stars. Everybody be a star in that role, and do whatever the team needs to do for us to win and keep and keep winning, and build those good habits, and build that foundation so that it carries over into later in the season.”
Coach Mark Daigneault and Jalen Williams: