Three Takeaways from the Thunder's 110-104 Loss to the San Antonio Spurs

Oklahoma City dropped its second game in a row on Tuesday night, falling to the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Cup.

Nov 19, 2024; San Antonio, Texas, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Luguentz Dort (5) shoots over San Antonio Spurs forward Zach Collins (23) in the second half at Frost Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images / Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images

The Oklahoma CIty Thunder took its fourth loss on the season on Tuesday night to the San Antonio Spurs, dropping two games in a row and falling to second in the Western Conference.

With no Victor Wembanyama or Chet Holmgren, the matchup was a bit of a shell of itself, though the dynamics of it being an NBA Cup matchup made up for it -- and so did some of the Spurs role players. For the Thunder, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had to will their way to 104 points with his 32 points as well as Jalen Williams' 27 on the night, but it was not enough to overcome a better shooting night from San Antonio.

Let's take a look at three takeaways from the Thunder's loss:

Thunder's Fast Break and Takeaway Prowess isn't Enough

Oklahoma City's adept skill at forcing turnovers and running the break is essential to its play style. On Tuesday night, they took advantage of a lackadaisical Spurs team and garnered 16 steals and forced 21 total turnovers.

The Thunder turned that into 24 points on the break compared to the Spurs' six, but an overall sluggish night from the field, 41%, and from three, 30.2%, caused them to succumb to San Antonio.

OKC Bench isn't Lightening the Load

The Oklahoma City bench hasn't been providing much for its starters the past couple of games and subsequent losses. And it's clear. This team is accustomed to Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams doing the heavy lifting, but with the offensive production the bench is providing right now, it more than likely will not be enough against a talented team.

The Thunder bench shot an awful combined 6-of-24 on the night, adding just 15 points as well as four turnovers. Oklahoma City relied heavily on its young guns, but even Alex Caruso couldn't get it going offensively shooting 1-fot-7 from the field.

Keldon Johnson Does No Wrong

The Spurs' Keldon Johnson was red hot on Tuesday in his team's win -- in front of a San Antonio crowd, he fed off it and could do no wrong.

In 29 minutes off the bench, Johnson added six threes to amass 22 points and one disrespectful poster dunk down the lane, hyping the crowd up which would eventually lead to San Antonio snatching the lead. Johnson had the high for the Spurs with his 22 points, as Harrison Barnes also put up 20 in the win.,

---

Want to join the discussion? Like Thunder on SI on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest Thunder news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.