6 months ago Grades

Grades: San Antonio Spurs at Oklahoma City Thunder – Game #4

Malaki Branham and the Spurs couldn’t keep up with the Thunder (Photo via X)

By LJ Ellis

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The San Antonio Spurs were faced with a difficult game in Oklahoma City against the Thunder. Sadly, there were no surprises on this night. With Victor Wembanyama struggling, the Spurs lost by a final score of 105-93. San Antonio dropped to 1-3 on the season, while OKC improved to 4-0.

The Spurs actually got off to a strong start in the opening minutes. Regrettably, their offense dried up and the good guys were down 26-19 heading into the second period. From then on, San Antonio was never able to put together a sustained run and the Thunder cruised to an easy win.

Stats: Spurs at Thunder

Spurs at Thunder – Final Grades

Victor Wembanyama

That was disappointing. Wembanyama was held to a career-low six points and didn’t even attempt a field goal in 12 second half minutes. His effort to produce on offense was minimal. He seemed content to float on the perimeter and do next to nothing. Wembanyama had a few positive moments on defense but he rarely efforted on a satisfactory level. To be fair, he went to the locker room during the middle of the game so perhaps there’s a reasonable explanation for why he was off of his game. Let’s hope Wembanyama is okay and bounces back quickly because this was a really bad performance.

Grade: F

Jeremy Sochan

Unlike Wembanyama, Sochan’s effort was never in question against the Thunder. Defensively, he was outstanding. He took on SGA and did good work. He was also being physical in the paint and rebounding at a high level. Offensively, he scored 17 points and handed out four assists. But, truth be told, he was out of control a lot of the time. Plus, he needed 16 field goal attempts to score 17 points, so his efficiency was lacking.

Grade: B

Harrison Barnes

This was Barnes’ best game in Silver and Black. Without his offensive production, the Spurs would have been in a world of hurt. He finished with 18 points and shot well from every area on the court. His quickness to the ball and his explosiveness in the paint was better than we’ve seen previously. I also thought his defense was better than it was in the season’s first three contests.

Grade: A-

Chris Paul

Paul played well. He had some turnovers but his playmaking was a strength throughout. When the Spurs got an easy shot in halfcourt situations, it was almost always due to Paul’s machinations. The starting point guard also put 14 much-needed points on the board during his 26 minutes of playing time. Defensively, he was rock solid. Paul could even be found sometimes leaping among the trees in an effort to get stops.

Grade: B+

Julian Champagnie

Champagnie struggled to shoot for a second consecutive contest. To make matters worse, he started hanging his head and he allowed his missed shots to negatively impact his defensive play. That’s something that can’t happen if Champagnie hopes to keep a main spot in the rotation.

Grade: C-

Keldon Johnson

The numbers don’t look too encouraging but I thought this was a small step in the right direction for Johnson. He actually passed the ball on a few of his drives, which is something we haven’t seen much of this season. Johnson was also good on the boards and active on defense. Obviously, the Spurs need better efficiency than nine points on 11 shots … but hopefully this is a sign that he’s rediscovering his role on this team.

Grade: B-

Stephon Castle

Yeah, no, this was just a poor outing for Castle. His outside shooting looked as bad as advertised; a couple of his misses from deep were way off. His playmaking wasn’t anything special, his ball-handling wasn’t that good and he actually looked like a rookie for most of his 20 minutes. Castle needs to start hitting outside shots or else teams will soon stop defending him. The Spurs can’t afford to have yet another non-shooter in the rotation.

Grade: D-

Malaki Branham

I mean, it wasn’t always pretty but Branham did his job by pouring in 15 points in 20 minutes. He hit 3-of-4 shots from three-point land and had a few slick buckets on the move. Branham banked in one of his threes and had a few unsightly shot selections but San Antonio was in desperate need of offensive production and he didn’t hesitate to try to help in that area.

Grade: B+

Blake Wesley

The good: Wesley’s defense was stout. His pressure disrupted the Thunder on a handful of possessions. His pushing of the pace was helpful on the other end. The bad: Wesley’s jumper lacked touch. His passing was a beat late and he missed his target too often. All in all, Wesley lacked sharpness.

Grade: C+

Zach Collins

Collins wasn’t too helpful this evening. Defensively, he was a step slow and that resulted in the Thunder exploiting lanes relentlessly. He was good on the boards and knocked in a three-pointer but Collins was too often in the way on the offensive end.

Grade: C

Sandro Mamukelashvili

The coaches called on Mamukelashvili to see if he could spark the team. It didn’t happen. He was hesitant and didn’t start producing until the game devolved into garbage time. Mamu has to be aggressive to be valuable — and that didn’t happen tonight until it was too late.