NBA’s next ‘monster’ is born… as defending champs shocked in major title warning — Wrap

Keldon Johnson and Stephon Castle combined for 49 points as the San Antonio Spurs unveiled a ‘new’ celebration after producing a second-half scoring blitz to rout the NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder 130-110.

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Ten days after eliminating the Thunder from the NBA Cup semi-finals, the Spurs once again proved too strong for the Western Conference leaders as they powered to their seventh straight victory in San Antonio.

Starting shooting guard Castle finished with 24 points including four three-pointers but the key contribution came from Johnson, who added 25 off the bench including five threes.

The Thunder fell to 26-4 after the loss, while the Spurs improved to 22-7 to stay in second place in the West.

San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama finished with 12 points while reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder scoring with 33 points.

“It shows how serious we are — we’ve got the same aspirations that they have, we just want to come out and compete every time we play them,” said Castle, who poured in 10 of his 24 points during the fourth quarter in which the Spurs outscored the Thunder 43-28.

Wembanyama later took to the microphone to get the San Antonio crowd to join him and the rest of players in what will become a new tradition for the Spurs, even if it isn’t necessarily new.

Iceland first made it famous at Euro 2016, while the Minnesota Vikings also adopted the tradition as did the NRL’s Canberra Raiders.

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NBA’S NEXT ‘MONSTER’ NEARLY MAKES HISTORY IN THRILLING WIN

The Denver Nuggets, meanwhile, missed the chance to close the gap on Oklahoma City after losing a thrilling duel 131-130 against the Dallas Mavericks on the road in Texas.

Mavericks prodigy Cooper Flagg once again stole the show, with the gifted 19-year-old No.1 draft pick scoring a game high 33 points with nine rebounds and nine assists.

Flagg was just one rebound and assist away from surpassing Australia’s Josh Giddey as the youngest player in NBA history to record a triple-double.

Flagg’s performance was backed by 31 points from Anthony Davis as Dallas outdueled Nuggets duo Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, who accounted for 60 Denver points.

The Nuggets almost snatched victory at the buzzer, but Peyton Watson’s wide open three-point attempt bounced out after hitting the rim.

“We’re just coming together, trying to have each other’s backs,” Flagg said.

“Obviously Jamal and (Jokic) had it going — so we were just trying to take those guys away and make somebody else beat us.”

Dallas improved to 12-19 while the Nuggets slipped to 21-8 in the West. Flagg meanwhile took encouragement from another hard-fought win by the Mavs, who last week took down the Eastern Conference-leading Detroit Pistons.

“We’re learning from all of these experiences,” Flagg said.

“You know we’ve been in a lot of really close games, so just trying to take stuff from those games and learn from it and get better.”

INJURY SCARE, AUSSIE’S CAREER YEAR HIGHLIGHTS OTHER GAMES

Elsewhere on Wednesday, Anthony Edwards rattled in 38 points as the Minnesota Timberwolves took down the New York Knicks 115-104 in Minneapolis.

Edwards knocked down four three-pointers while teammate Julius Randle added 25 points as the Wolves eclipsed a 40-point performance from Karl-Anthony Towns.

Knicks star Jalen Brunson, who scored 47 points in Monday’s win over Miami, missed the game with a right ankle problem.

Meanwhile, Michael Porter Jr. may well be on the move at the trade deadline as he continues to prove far too good for the tanking Nets, leading Brooklyn to a 114-106 win over the Philadelphia 76ers.

Joel Embiid went down with a knee injury early in the third quarter but fortunately for the Sixers was later able to return.

Embiid finished with a team-high 27 points to go with six rebounds, four assists and two blocks.

In other games, the Charlotte Hornets beat the Washington Wizards 126-109 in a battle of NBA cellar dwellers while the Cleveland Cavaliers cruised to a 141-118 win over the struggling New Orleans Pelicans.

The Toronto Raptors continued to prove themselves a genuine contender and surprise packet in the East after a comfortable 112-91 win against the Miami Heat, while the Luka Doncic-less Lakers were crushed 132-108 by the Phoenix Suns.

Australian Jock Landale enjoyed another strong game in what is quickly shaping as a career-year for the Boomers big man, scoring 17 points go with eight rebounds in a 137-128 win for the Memphis Grizzlies over the Utah Jazz.

Elsewhere, the Bucks are doing their best job to try convince Giannis Antetokounmpo that his future remains in Milwaukee after a 111-94 victory over the Indiana Pacers.

And rounding out an action-packed day of NBA games, the Detroit Pistons got past the Sacramento Kings 136-127 while the Orlando Magic squeaked past the Port Trail Blazers 110-106 and James Harden helped the L.A. Clippers to a big win against the Houston Rockets.