Spurs struggle to defend 3-point line in season-opening loss to Thunder

Oklahoma City guard Jared McCain’s basketball career is more precious to him after knee and thumb injuries plagued his first two seasons.

“I love playing basketball,” he said. “This is something I’ve loved since I was younger. When I was injured, it was just the worst time ever. So being able to be out there playing any minutes (Thunder coach) Mark (Daigneault) gives me, I’m happy and I’m grateful for it. And being able to play with these guys, my teammates, it’s really fun out there.

“I just have fun when I play. It’s good vibes.”

McCain created plenty of “good vibes” for Oklahoma City on Tuesday night, when he connected on 6 of 8 from 3-point range on his way to scoring 20 points in 22 minutes off the bench in the Thunder’s 116-104 season-opening victory over the Spurs.

The Spurs finished last season ranked eighth in the league in opponents’ 3-point efficiency, holding foes to 35.2% from beyond the arc. 

But there wasn’t a carryover from that strong effort into the 2026-27 opener at the Frost Bank Center.

Sparked by McCain, Oklahoma City hit 45.2% from long range (14 of 31).

“Just not running them off the line, not closing to touch, especially early,” Stephon Castle said when asked what went wrong for the Spurs out on the perimeter. “That’s how they got up on us kind of early.”

The Thunder led 65-44 at halftime after leading by as many as 26 points in the first half. McCain went into the break with 11 points on the strength of 3 of 4 from long range.

As a team, Oklahoma City hit 10 of 14 from 3-point territory in the first half (71.4%).

Spurs All-Star center Victor Wembanyama said several factors led to the sub-par defensive showing.

“I think there were some times where we were really, really good and we (didn’t) finish the possession,” the 2026 Defensive Player of the Year said. “Sometimes there (were) moments when we gave them two offensive boards on the same position, or we play great defense, get the ball off of their hot guys, and (then) we barely do a closeout or we do a bad closeout or we miscommunicate.

“It’s like they were playing the right way. I’m sure they were having fun tonight. They were making the extra pass and we weren’t making the extra effort.”

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This article originally published at Spurs struggle to defend 3-point line in season-opening loss to Thunder.