Converting underneath the basket, a Jared Butler bucket completed the 15-point comeback. After trailing for the first 35 minutes of the game, the Oklahoma City Thunder finally took their first lead of the night. A strong 15-4 start in the fourth quarter helped claw OKC back into this game.
Alas, the Thunder’s comeback attempt ultimately fell short, as they couldn’t overcome a slow start in a 98-94 summer league loss to the San Antonio Spurs.
Despite the loss, Thunder summer league coach Kam Woods had positive reviews for their overall stay in Las Vegas.
“I thought, collectively, we came together as a group,” Woods said. “Offensively, our ball movement has grown. I thought, defensively, our voice has grown. I thought we played with a lot more pace as each game went on.”
The Spurs opened the game with a 29-17 lead following the first quarter. The Thunder managed to shave just three points of the 12-point lead in the middle quarters. After briefly trailing, the Spurs quickly regained control and secured the win with a 10-3 run in the final three minutes of the contest.
It was an ugly contest from both teams as they struggled to get any offense humming. Both teams shot below 47% from the field and 32% from 3. Ball security was not very secure as OKC had 17 turnovers and San Antonio had 18 turnovers.
The Spurs managed to attempt 14 more shots than the Thunder due to their 15 offensive rebounds — this highlighted their lopsided 48-33 advantage on the boards.
The energy of this game matched the vibes lazy Sundays are usually associated with — as both teams elected to sit out most of their key players. This game provided an opportunity for the undrafted rookies and G Leaguers to get playing time and make one last impression before summer league concluded.
The player who made arguably the biggest impression in this game was Butler, who scored a game-high 31 points on efficient 10-of-18 shooting. Fighting to keep his two-way spot, his shot chart matched the temperature of the average July day in Las Vegas.
Meanwhile, the Spurs had several candidates that fit this mold. Undrafted rookies Charles Bediako and Erik Stevenson were two standouts. Bediako collected a 17-point and 11-rebound double-double and Stevenson had 23 points on 7-of-23 shooting. Second-round rookie Sidy Cissoko also had 10 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
With the loss, the Thunder finished the Las Vegas portion of summer league with a modest 2-3 record. OKC now enters the slowest part of the NBA calendar as training camp isn’t set to start until September.
Let’s look at Thunder player grades.