SAN ANTONIO (AP) — The San Antonio Spurs are the most popular crew within the NBA only a 12 months faraway from two of the worst seasons in franchise historical past.
So gamers and followers might be excused for celebrating a win in December prefer it’s 1999 and their first NBA championship.
San Antonio beat Oklahoma City 130-110 on Tuesday evening, handing the Thunder their worst defeat of the season and their second loss to the Spurs in 11 days. It was the Spurs’ seventh straight victory, the league’s longest lively streak.
Just don’t name the matchup between the groups a rivalry — but.
“I don’t view it as a budding rivalry,” San Antonio coach Mitch Johnson mentioned of Oklahoma City. “Our group’s been together 25-some-odd games. That team won 16 games in the playoffs (last season) to win a championship. I don’t want to disrespect their program and what they’ve built. We are trying to build something and we’re chasing every other single team in this league.”
The Spurs and Thunder play for the third time in two weeks on Thursday in Oklahoma City.
San Antonio beat Oklahoma City 111-109 on Dec. 13 within the NBA Cup semifinals.
“It is good we get to play them as much as we do because they’re a really good team,” Thunder ahead Jalen Williams mentioned.
San Antonio has gained 14 of 17, together with victories in opposition to the Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Lakers, and moved into second place within the Western Conference.
Keldon Johnson scored 25 factors, Stephon Castle added 24 and Harrison Barnes had 20 on Tuesday because the Spurs pulled inside 3 1/2 video games of the Thunder atop the West. San Antonio outscored Oklahoma City 43-28 within the fourth quarter, turning a tense sport with 15 lead adjustments and 13 ties right into a blowout.
“I think it would have been a great game to watch,” Spurs star Victor Wembanyama mentioned. “I’ll watch it again.”
Wembanyama nearly watched the sport from the very best seat within the sold-out Frost Bank Center.
The 7-foot-3 heart was downgraded to questionable on Monday as he continues to rehabilitate from a strained left calf that stored him out for 12 video games. He was cleared to play half an hour earlier than tipoff and got here off the bench for the sixth straight time since returning.
“He’s a really, really good player, but he’s not their whole team at all,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault mentioned. “They’ve got a lot of good guys, they’ve got good balance, they’re well coached. They were super sharp tonight. They played with a great sense of purpose and they executed really well.”
The Spurs have had seven completely different gamers lead the crew in scoring throughout their longest profitable streak since 2015.
“We get it done by committee,” Keldon Johnson mentioned. “Each night it could be somebody different and it has been someone different each and every night. Knowing we have that luxury, that we can have multiple guys that can have a night, but we all understand the team aspect of it that if someone has it going, we’ve got to get him the ball.”
It’s a welcome change for a storied franchise that has fallen on arduous instances.
The Spurs tied an NBA document with 22 consecutive postseason appearances starting in 1998, the season earlier than capturing their first of 5 championships. San Antonio has since missed the playoffs in six straight seasons.
The Spurs completed 34-48 final season after consecutive 22-60 seasons, one loss shy of the franchise’s worst document of 21-61 set in 1989. San Antonio has rallied this 12 months, beginning with a franchise-record 5-0 begin.
“It tells me how much better we are from the beginning of the season,” Wembanyama mentioned of Tuesday’s win. “We can still get much better, but it means something for sure.”
Until then, Wembanyama dismisses any discuss of a rivalry with the reigning champions.
Plus, he is aware of what an actual rivalry is, having grown up watching Paris Saint-Germain face Marseille in soccer.
While the Spurs are nonetheless creating, Wembanyama is bringing a few of that soccer fervor to San Antonio. He created a superfan group known as the San Antonio Jackals.
Following the sport, Wembanyama launched what he hopes is a brand new custom he labored on with the Jackals whereas sidelined with the calf harm.
The Spurs gave Wembanyama a microphone and introduced a big bass drum onto the courtroom. Wembanyama requested followers to face, outstretch their arms and clap as soon as after he pounded on the drum. The pause between every Wembanyama thump of the drum decreased till the Spurs followers had been clapping wildly in celebration.
“That was phenomenal,” Barnes mentioned. “I heard about it on the fly. That was great. He may have a career in marketing. The way he got that stadium going, that was great.”