Oklahoma City Thunder will make sure to approach the best record at the Western conference as they travel to San Antonio to meet the struggling, short -handed spurs on Sunday.
Thunder has won two consecutive matches and four of the last five, including a victory 135-119 at Atlanta on Friday. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 31 points for Oklahoma City while Luguentz Dort and Jalen Williams made 20 each when Thunder made 23 of his 50 3-point shoots.
Gilgeous-Alexander said that the success at a long distance comes from the work that Thunder put in during the exercise.
“It will fluctuate,” he said. “You just have to trust your work and take good pictures, and it will happen to you.”
Oklahoma City coach Mark Daigneault said the goal is to “help his players shoot their pictures.”
“(We want players to) understand what a good shot is for them when it comes to our team and then give them confidence to shoot it in all circumstances,” Daigneault said. “And if you get it up, it doesn’t necessarily mean you should expand, (without) that you just keep being doubled.
“You don’t make points as we make as consistent as we score without a nice balance.”
Oklahoma City, who leads West with 9 1/2 matches over the second place Denver Nuggets and owns the second best record in the league, a game behind Cleveland, has shared the first two races over Spurs this season, wins at home on October 30 and lost on the road on 19 November.
Thunder will be without center Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Joe on Sunday. Holmgren was forced from the Atlanta game Friday during the first half with a left ankle. Joe did not play the second half after his lower back was tightened.
Sunday will be the second game in a road home, back-to-back for San Antonio and its first real home game since February 1st. The spurs dropped eight of the 12 races during their annual Rodeo trip but went home with a moving 130-128 victory on the short hands Memphis on Saturday.
De’aaron Fox scored 20 points and hit the winning jumper with 2.6 seconds left on Saturday to snap San Antonio’s four-game losing row. Stephon Castle led Spurs with 24 points from the bench, with Devin Vassell adding 20, Jeremy Socan Tallying 18 points and 11 returns, and Keldon Johnson and Julian Champagnie scored 15 and 14 points respectively.
Perhaps the spurs was inspired by a meeting on Thursday in practice with coach Gregg Popovich, who sits out the rest of this season after suffering a stroke in November. Several of San Antonio’s players talked for the first time about Popovich’s visit.
“He had some lively words about how we have played,” said ahead Harrison Barnes. “(There were some of the four letters variety) Sprinkle in. That’s how you know he is doing well.”
Interim coach Mitch Johnson said Popovich’s absence has been “tough for him – and for us.”
“(Popovich) knows we have our backs, and he just has to keep fighting, stay safe every day and continue every day …” Johnson said. “He will do that. We know that 100 percent.”
The spurs has lost four of the six games since the lost Star Center Victor Wembanyama for the rest of the season to a blood clot in his right shoulder.
This will be the first home game for Fox, acquired from Sacramento in a trade on February 2 after the spurs began its month-long road trip.
-Field level media
