The San Antonio Spurs did it again. Meanwhile Anthony Davis suffered yet another injury setback that prompted a brutal call from an NBA legend.
San Antonio defeated defending champion Oklahoma City for a third-straight time in less than two weeks in another stunning upset and title statement to flip the season on its head.
The 23-7 Spurs won Friday’s game (all times AEDT) in OKC 117-102 behind 29 points from De’Aaron Fox for their eighth-straight victory overall as part of the US Christmas Day slate.
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Victor Wembayama added 19 points and 11 rebounds in 26 minutes off the bench and Stephon Castle put up 19 points and seven assists as San Antonio held the Thunder to 38.9 per cent shooting from the field.
Suddenly, this OKC juggernaut that started 24-1 and was widely tipped to blow by everyone in its path this season, as it eyes Golden State’s 73-win record and back-to-back championships, has chinks in its armour.
Or perhaps more specifically, OKC has found its kryptonite, with San Antonio having dealt the Thunder three of their five losses this season.
Mark Daigneault’s team has now dropped three of its last four games to slide to 26-5, but it remains two and half games clear of the Spurs at the top of the Western Conference.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who had 22 points on 7-of-19 shooting on Friday and was the only Thunder player to score more than 13 points, even conceded post-match that San Antonio had their measure.
“You don’t lose to a team three times in a row in a short span without them being better than you,” the reigning MVP said.
“We have to get better, we have to look in the mirror. And that’s everybody from top to bottom, if we want to reach our ultimate goal.”
The budding rivalry between the two Western Conference contenders also continued to simmer away.
Lu Dort late in the second quarter appeared to deliberately shove Wembanyama from behind in a questionable act while the 7-foot-4 centre was contesting a rebound.
Wembanyama, who’s still playing under restrictions after returning from a calf injury, fell to the floor and grabbed his leg but played on unaffected.
It came after Wembanyama taunted rival Chet Holmgren by celebrating after the Thunder big man missed a free throw in the first quarter, screaming “hell yeah!”
Speaking post-match, Wembanyama said he didn’t want to “say too much” about what he’s learned after going 3-0 against OKC including a narrow NBA Cup semifinal win and 20-point road victory earlier this week.
“This is like a playoff series. We learned a lot on the tactical side … I don’t want to say too much about it. Keep something for us,” the French superstar said.
In San Francisco, the Golden State Warriors overcame the Dallas Mavericks 126-116 in a game Davis left with a groin issue.
Steph Curry led the way with 23 points and Jimmy Butler narrowly missed out on a triple-double (14 points, nine rebounds, nine assists), while Draymond Green returned following an in-game spat with coach in Golden State’s previous contest against the Orlando Magic.
It marked the Warriors’ third-straight win to get above .500 again at 16-15.
Cooper Flagg led all scorers with 27 points on 13-of-21 shooting to go with six rebounds and five assists in his first NBA Christmas Day game
The No. 1 draft pick is set to shoulder more responsibilities for a Mavs team, that’s dropped three of its last four games to fall to 12-20 overall, likely to be without Davis for a period while Kyrie Irving continues to rehab an ACL tear.
Davis, who has an extensive injury history, has already missed 16 games this season as the oft-injured superstar has struggled to stay on the court since last February’s shock Luka Doncic trade.
And NBA legend Charles Barkley has seen enough.
Barkley declared Davis “is never going to be healthy” and that he thinks it’s time for the Mavs to commit to a full reset around Flagg.
“I would move on … this experiment is over,” Barkley said on ESPN.
The NBA icon added: “It’s time to do a full rebuild in Dallas. Build around Cooper Flagg.”
At New York, Jalen Brunson scored 34 points to lead the host Knicks over Cleveland 126-124 in a Christmas Day thriller.
The Cavaliers, led by Donovan Mitchell’s 34 points, grabbed a 103-86 lead with 10:25 remaining but New York closed on a 40-21 run to seize the victory.
Benson, who hit 6-of-12 from three-point range, lifted the Knicks ahead for good at 121-119 on a 3-pointer with 65 seconds remaining.
It was Brunson’s 90th 30-point game as a Knick, a total eclipsed only by Patrick Ewing and Carmelo Anthony. Jordan Clarkson added 25 points off the bench for New York.
-With AFP
ALL RESULTS
Cavaliers 124 Knicks 126
Spurs 117 Thunder 102
Mavericks 116 Warriors 126
Rockets 119 Lakers 96
Timberwolves – Nuggets
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