By Paris Lawson | Broadcast and Digital Reporter | okcthunder.com
THE BIG PICTURE
OKC fell behind early to a red-hot San Antonio offense on Wednesday night. A slow shooting night for the Thunder coupled with an uncharacteristic 15 3-pointers from San Antonio gave the Spurs early control of the ball game and ultimately a 118-96 win. Thunder two-way rookie Aaron Wiggins led the Thunder in scoring with 19 points on an efficient 8-for-11 shooting.
Highlights: OKC at SAS
MOMENTS FROM THE 48
Early Deficit
OKC ran into a red-hot Spurs team inside of the AT&T Center on Wednesday night. San Antonio, who ranks 29th in the league in 3-point attempts and makes per game, fueled their offense from behind the arc against the Thunder. The Spurs shot 38 percent from deep and sank 15 triples while the Thunder shot at just a 25 percent clip on the other end.
San Antonio found a rhythm early on, using ball screens to get into the paint and spray out to shooters behind the perimeter. Dejounte Murray fanned the flames of San Antonio’s offense with a game-high 23 points and 14 assists. In addition to the shooting, the Spurs racked up 19 second chance points to go along with 19 fast break points. Though the Thunder managed to keep the scoreboard moving throughout the night, it’s offense couldn’t keep pace with the Spurs who were finding success at all three levels of the floor and its defense didn’t cause the disruption needed to slow San Antonio’s rhythmic scoring.
“They were just kind of a step faster than us tonight from the jump,” said Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault. “They played with great pace. I felt like we were behind the ball a lot on the defensive end of the floor, especially in the first half and then offensively I thought they were pretty geared up and we had a hard time creating the same pace that they could.”
Wiggins on the Move
Aaron Wiggins had just a step’s worth of separation from his defender on a backdoor cut. That’s all the daylight fellow rookie Josh Giddey needed on an inbounds play.
Giddey sent a laser of a pass right into the path of Wiggins who finished right at the rim for an and-one. This is how Wiggins generated his shots throughout the night – cutting without the ball and creating small windows for his teammates to find him.
“I'm just trying to find the easiest shots for me as an individual just to try and contribute to the team,” said Wiggins. “Just off cuts, offensive rebounds, little things like that and taking open shots.”
The Thunder’s two-way rookie led the team in the scoring column with 19 points on an efficient 8-for-11 from the field. The Maryland product moved consistently off the ball, finding seams in the defense for OKC’s ball handlers such as Giddey, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Ty Jerome to find him on. Of his 19 points, 10 of them were assisted on.
“Offensively, he found his cracks inside the flow of the offense,” said Daigneault. “When he had those bigger scoring games earlier on, he wasn't doing anything outside of his role and I thought tonight was similar.”
“He's always cutting and it's credit to him because he has a lot of game off the dribble too,” said Jerome. “He knows that's a good way for him to make an impact on the game. He does a good job of it every night.”
Mamadi’s Moment
Thunder 10-day center Mamadi Diakite made a splash with his 19 minutes of action on Wednesday. The former Virginia standout notched a season-high eight points on a 4-for-6 from the field. In a display of the energy and activity Diakite provides, two of Diakite’s four baskets came in the form of dunks off of alley oops.
THE LAST WORD
WHAT'S NEXT
The Thunder heads out to the Eastern Conference for the final two games of its four-game road trip. OKC will face the Charlotte Hornets on Friday before wrapping up the road stint in Cleveland on Saturday.