The San Antonio Spurs opened Game 3 of the Western Conference finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday night red-hot on both sides of the court. The Spurs started the first quarter on a 15-0 run while the Frost Bank Center turned electric with the passion of 19,000 fans.
As both teams began substituting their bench players into the game, the Thunder began to show the San Antonio crowd the roster depth necessary to succeed in the modern NBA. Oklahoma’s bench outscored San Antonio’s 76-18, with second-year guard Jared McCain scoring an efficient 22 points. The Thunder set the conference finals record for most bench points scored in a single game.
The Thunder bench evaporated the Spurs’ lead halfway through the second quarter, while Spurs center Victor Wembayama watched from the bench. The Spurs played from behind for the rest of the game. San Antonio had no answer for the Thunder’s substitutes on either side of the court. Offensively, the Thunder got open looks and drawing contact to get to the free throw line. Defensively, physical guarding and hard fouls kept the Spurs from getting into rhythm.
During the third quarter, frustration and tension came to a head after back-to-back hard fouls in transition, knocking former Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle to the floor on both plays. This led to an altercation between Thunder guard Ajay Mitchell and Spurs forward Devin Vassell. The two players got into a brief shoving match, before officials handed out technical fouls and sent both teams back to their benches.
While the Spurs’ bench had one of its worst nights of this postseason, the starters struggled to find themselves as well. All-Star guard De’Aaron Fox has been battling an ankle injury since the second round of the playoffs. Fox poured in 15 points before a collision with Lu Dort sent him back to the bench in agony.
Victor Wembanyama has been one of the best players in this year’s playoffs, but Friday night, the seven-foot-four-inch center was outrebounded by his own backcourt. When Wemby plays at his peak, the Spurs seem unstoppable. After a historic Game 1 performance, most thought this series would be Wemby’s ascension to superstar status. Unfortunately for the Spurs, this game looked more like the early meetings between Michael Jordan and the Bad Boy Pistons of the late 1980’s. The Spurs’ success begins and ends with Victor Wembanyama. Postgame, the 22-year-old phenom took full responsibility for the loss, saying, “I feel like I’m having trouble making my teammates better.”
The Thunder lead the Western Conference finals 2-1 following the Game 3 win. The teams will meet for Game 4 on Sunday at 7 p.m. in San Antonio.
