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.
Jared Butler: A+
It was a struggle to generate offense for the Thunder, but that didn’t stop Jared Butler from finishing his summer league campaign with his best performance.
The third-year guard scored 31 points on 10-of-18 shooting and went 5-of-9 from 3 in 29 minutes. He also collected four rebounds and three steals.
Butler was responsible for nearly one-third of OKC’s total points this game, as his drives to the basket had a huge success rate. The outside shooting continued to stay hot throughout his time in Las Vegas.
It was a successful two weeks for Butler as his summer league play likely secured a two-way spot on the roster. If not, then he surely has created interest from other teams.
“I gotta prove myself every game and this was an opportunity for me to do that,” Butler said about his summer league.
Cross-court vision 🔎 pic.twitter.com/g8uRivmxwg
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) July 17, 2023
Ousmane Dieng: D
An awesome summer league campaign ended on a quiet note for Ousmane Dieng.
After an impressive string of games, the second-year wing finished with eight points on 3-of-11 shooting, four rebounds and six assists in 31 minutes. He struggled from 3 as he went 0-of-7 from deep.
After making serious progress, Dieng returned to some old bad habits in this game. On several of his drives, he settled for floaters and jumpers instead of bulldozing his way to the basket.
Nonetheless, Dieng did such a great job for the rest of summer league minus the forgettable first and last game of his two-week campaign. A couple of meh performances sandwiched between superb play shouldn’t drastically discourage how to feel about his summer games.
“I thought he took some steps forward from where he was last year,” Woods said about Dieng’s summer league.
Finishing through the contact pic.twitter.com/s4lSYHg4rP
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) July 17, 2023
The steal, the pass, the slam ⏭ pic.twitter.com/GpWPwgc94f
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) July 17, 2023
Cason Wallace: C-
After a hot start, Cason Wallace struggled with consistency for the rest of summer league.
Against the Spurs, Wallace finished with 13 points on 4-of-10 shooting and went 3-of-6 from 3 in 26 minutes. He also had three rebounds and two steals. All three of his 3s were made from the left-wing spot of the perimeter.
Overall, it was a solid summer league for Wallace as his debut was delayed due to official paperwork. He provided enough evidence to show he’ll fit in seamlessly with the Thunder when games start to matter in October.
“I’ve been impressed with (his) ability to pick up information on the fly as we’ve gone and implemented in the game as well,” Woods said about the rookies.
Keyontae Johnson: C
Just like with Wallace, Keyontae Johnson also had his summer league debut delayed. In his case, it was due to a hamstring injury.
But once he was cleared to return, Johnson made an immediate impact in all of his appearances. In 25 minutes tonight, he finished with 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting and three rebounds.
Johnson conducted most of his scoring inside of the paint, where he outmuscled opponents and created looks near the basket despite being an undersized forward.
