The physicality of OKC’s reserves “stains” the Spurs in a long-awaited victory

Oklahoma. and home – Victor Vembanyama and the San Antonio SpursPhysicality was a significant factor in their three wins against Oklahoma City Thunder in December. Without starters Lou Dort and Isaiah Hartenstein, two of the team’s defensive catalysts, Thunder dominated Vembanjam and Spurs in a 119-98 win at the Payko Center.

In the third quarter, where the Thunder outscored the Spurs 40-24, Alec CarusoJailin Williams and Kenrich Williams on both ends of the floor helped Oklahoma City go on a 14-1 halftime run. All three reserves took turns disrupting the Spurs’ offensive rhythm, clogging San Antonio’s passing lanes and constantly challenging their opponents’ attempts.

After the win, Jaylin said he, Kenrich and Caruso took a lot of pride in their defensive role for the Thunder, which showed in their collective efforts against one of the league’s brightest stars in Wembanyama, who is on one of the NBA’s best teams, the Spurs.

“I think I speak for the three of us when I say we all like to mess up the game,” Williams said. “Go out there, play hard, do whatever the team needs; be physical, compete — things like that. When we’re all out there yelling at each other, I feel like that’s when we’re able to do our best defensively.”

Jaylin and Kenrich rattled Victor Vembanyama in the paint, and Caruso had his hand in the Spurs guard’s face at one end of the floor and drained a pair of threes at the other. He also finished with one steal while moving San Antonio’s physicality on defense, and the same could be said for Kenrich and Jaylin, who spent much of the night battling Wemby.

Still, it’s the suffocating approach these three tend to bring every night, regardless of the opponent.

“I don’t know if I’d say it’s a rivalry or anything like that,” Williams said. “But they’re obviously a really good team. We’re obviously a really good team. Two competitive teams that want to win a basketball game really, really bad. It’s going to be a great game — great players on their side of the ball. And it’s fun to play against guys that want to compete as hard as we do.”

Marc Daigneault applauds a shot by the Thunder bench against the Spurs

Thunder head coach Marc Daigneault revealed that beating the Spurs is not complicated when all his players are on the same page, while executing their game plan at a high level. Limiting Spurs All-Star Victor Wembaniama was critical for the Thunder.

For Daigneault, that effort starts at the top with the Thunder’s core in Shaa Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren and trickles down to his bench in players like Alec Caruso, Ajay Mitchell and Jailin Williams; all of whom did not disappoint against Spurs.

“You just want your bench to come in and kind of pick up the game when they get in there, and I thought Caruso, Jaylin Williams, Kenrich, Mitchell and Isaiah Joe did that tonight,” Dayno said. “That’s exactly what you want from the bench. If you’re down, they’re up. If you’re up, they’re up. And those guys brought a lot of juice tonight. They earned their minutes. They played their minutes very, very hard, and they gave us a huge boost.”

Caruso’s 13 points led three Thunder bench players in double figures, including Mitchell and Jaylin (10 rebounds), who each finished with 11 points and a combined 16 rebounds.