Game Thread: The Heat is in San Antonio for the Spurs’ first home preseason game
Jimmy Butler comes to town for Wembanyama’s first game in San Antonio
Welcome to the Game Thread. Veterans of the Game Thread know how we do things around here, but for all you newbies we have a few rules. Our community guidelines apply and basically say be cool, no personal attacks, don’t troll and don’t swear too much.
Tonight is the first night that fans in San Antonio will see the 2023-20024 Spurs in action at their home arena. The Frost Bank Center will be rockin’ tonight, as Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo and the rest of the Miami Heat come into town for an early preseason contest.
It’s only the second game of preseason, but there are less than two weeks until real basketball starts, with the Spurs facing the Mavericks on October 25, followed by the Rockets on the 27th (I’ll be at that game).
The Spurs looked great in the first half of their first preseason game on Monday, scoring 81 points before halftime against the Thunder. The second half was played in mud, as the Spurs scored less that half that total and lost 122-121, but the game was marked by some amazing performances by young players on both sides, with both Victor Wembanyama and Chet Holmgren posting impressive debuts. Devin Vassell’s season start was less impressive, but he still has time to round into shape before the real season begins.
Jeremy Sochan and Keldon Johnson did not play against the Thunder, and they should make their preseason debuts tonight. We might even see Khem Birch play tonight, as he’s still in a Spurs roster and available to play. The Heat look to be holding most of their veterans out tonight, so this will be time for the young Spurs to shine. This is a nationally televised contest, which is something that’s pretty unusual for a Spurs preseason game. Wembanyamania is real, folks.
Game Prediction:
Jimmy Butler will miss several shots because he has to use his off arm to push his bangs out of his field of vision. [He’s out tonight, so we will just see him do this from the bench.]
One final word:
Go Spurs GOOOOOO!!
San Antonio Spurs vs Oklahoma City Thunder
October 13, 2023 | 6:30 PM CT
Streaming: TNT Overtime
TV: TNT
Reminder: It is against site policy to post links to illegal streams in the comments, but it is not against site policy to exchange email addresses, for instance.
