"The San Antonio Spurs' comeback win over the Oklahoma City Thunder in Saturday's NBA Cup semifinal had to be encouraging for contending teams that weren't in Las Vegas last weekend. Beyond knocking the Thunder out of contention for an NBA Cup, which they could've added to the Finals trophy they claimed in June, the Spurs' victory also showed that Oklahoma City is beatable. For a while, that was in question."
"Hold them under 55% shooting inside the arc This certainly isn't unique to the Thunder, but limiting their shooting inside the arc has been close to a must to slow down their offense. Oklahoma City has shot 58.5% on 2-point attempts this season, which is third in the NBA. That's a significant improvement from last season, when the Thunder's 56% 2-point shooting ranked seventh."
The San Antonio Spurs mounted a comeback to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 111-109 in the NBA Cup semifinal, demonstrating that the Thunder can be beaten. The Thunder began with a 16-game winning streak and a 24-1 record, tying the 2015-16 Warriors for the best start in NBA history, and managed that without a full complement of starters until Isaiah Hartenstein returned. Limiting Oklahoma City's inside shooting and rim access is crucial; the Thunder shot 58.5% on two-point attempts this season (third in the NBA), up from 56% last season. They fell to 53% on twos in the 2025 playoffs, and were beaten only four times while shooting at least 55% inside the arc (league average 54.8%).
Read at ESPN.com
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