The San Antonio Spurs have done it again. Meanwhile, Anthony Davis suffered another injury setback that prompted a brutal call-out from an NBA legend.
San Antonio beat defending champion Oklahoma City for the third straight time in less than two weeks in another stunning upset and season-turning title declaration.
The 23-7 Spurs won Friday’s game (all time AEDT) in OKC 117-102 behind 29 points from De’Aaron Fox for their eighth straight win overall in the U.S. Christmas Day slate.
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Victor Wembayama added 19 points and 11 rebounds in 26 minutes coming off the bench and Stephon Castle had 19 points and seven assists as San Antonio held the Thunder to 38.9 percent shooting from the field.
Suddenly, this OKC juggernaut that started 24-1 and was widely tipped to explode by everyone in its path this season, as it eyes Golden State’s record 73 wins and back-to-back championships, has chinks in its armor.
Or perhaps more accurately, OKC has found its kryptonite, as San Antonio has handed the Thunder three of their five losses this season.
Mark Daigneault’s team has now lost three of its last four games to slip to 26-5, but it remains two and a half games ahead of the Spurs at the top of the Western Conference.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who had 22 points on 7-of-19 shooting Friday and was the only Thunder player to score more than 13 points, even admitted after the game that San Antonio had his measure.
“You don’t lose to a team three times in a row in a short period of time without them being better than you,” the reigning MVP said.
“We have to improve, we have to look in the mirror. And that affects everyone, from top to bottom, if we want to achieve our ultimate goal.”
The budding rivalry between the two Western Conference contenders also continued to dissipate.
Lu Dort, late in the second quarter, appeared to deliberately push Wembanyama from behind in a questionable act as the 7-foot-4 center contested a rebound.
Wembanyama, who is still playing under restrictions after returning from a calf injury, fell to the ground and grabbed his leg but played unaffected.
This happened after Wembanyama taunted rival Chet Holmgren by celebrating after the Thunder big man missed a free throw in the first quarter, shouting “hell yeah!”
Speaking after the game, Wembanyama said he didn’t want to “give too much away” about what he learned after going 3-0 against OKC, including a close win in the NBA Cup semifinals and a 20-point victory on the road earlier this week.
“It’s like a playoff series. We learned a lot tactically… I don’t want to say too much. Keep something for us,” the French superstar said.
In San Francisco, the Golden State Warriors defeated 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 a triple-double (14 points, nine rebounds, nine assists), while Draymond Green returned after a mid-game argument with the coach in Golden State’s previous game against the Orlando Magic.
It was the Warriors’ third straight victory to move above .500 again at 16-15.
Cooper Flagg led all scorers with 27 points on 13-of-21 shooting, with six rebounds and five assists in his first Christmas Day NBA game.
The No. 1 overall pick is expected to shoulder more responsibility for a Mavs team, which has lost three of its last four games to fall to 12-20 overall, likely without Davis for a while while Kyrie Irving continues to rehab a torn ACL.
Davis, who has a long injury history, has already missed 16 games this season as the oft-injured superstar has struggled to stay on the court since the shock Luka Doncic trade last February.
And NBA legend Charles Barkley has seen enough.
Barkley said Davis “will never be healthy” and that he thinks it’s time for the Mavs to commit to a complete reset around Flagg.
“I’ll move on…this experience is over,” Barkley said on ESPN.
NBA icon added: “It’s time to completely rebuild Dallas. Build around Cooper Flagg.”
In 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 with 34 points, took a 103-86 lead with 10:25 to play, but New York closed on a 40-21 run to grab the victory.
Benson, who made 6 of 12 three-pointers, put 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
Horsemen 124 Knicks 126
Spurs 117 Thunder 102
Nonconformists 116 Warriors 126
Rockets 119 Lakers 96
Timber wolves 138 Nuggets 142 (OT)
