Spurs HC Mitch Johnson gets brutally honest on San Antonio’s lineup in loss to Thunder appeared first on ClutchPoints. Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The San Antonio Spurs rolled out a bold new starting lineup for their Western Conference Finals rematch with the Oklahoma City Thunder, and Mitch Johnson was not about to sugarcoat how it went.
The Thunder beat the Spurs 116-104 on Tuesday night at Frost Bank Center, spoiling San Antonio’s season opener. Afterward, Johnson was asked about his decision to start three guards in De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper.
“However many guards we played, they all struggled tonight,” Johnson said. “It was a pretty well-rounded poor effort by all of us.”
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The lineup choice was one of the biggest storylines heading into the night. Johnson committed to starting Fox, Castle and Harper alongside Devin Vassell and Victor Wembanyama, explaining that he wanted his five best players on the floor to open games. The trio had only shared the court for 69 minutes last season, including 25 in the NBA Finals, when opponents outscored them by 47 points.
On paper, the guards produced. Castle led San Antonio with 24 points and seven rebounds, Harper added 18 points, seven rebounds and five assists, and Fox chipped in 14 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. But the Spurs dug themselves a deep hole, trailing by 21 at halftime, and never fully recovered.
Wembanyama had a night to forget. The superstar center shot just 1-of-13 from the field and missed every shot he took in the first half, finishing with 12 points, 13 rebounds and six blocks.
Emotions also boiled over in the second quarter. Fox shoved Chet Holmgren to the floor, sparking a scuffle that led to a flagrant foul on Fox and technical fouls on Wembanyama and several others.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 32 points, while Jared McCain provided a big lift off the bench with 20 points on six threes. The Spurs trimmed the deficit to single digits in the third quarter, but Oklahoma City pulled away again in the fourth.
It was a rough start for a Spurs team that beat the Thunder in seven games in last season’s conference finals before falling to the New York Knicks in the NBA Finals.
San Antonio will look to bounce back when it hosts the Houston Rockets at Moody Center in Austin on Friday.
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