The San Antonio Spurs opened their season against the Oklahoma City Thunder with a look that said as much about Mitch Johnson’s plan as it did about the matchup. Tobias Harris was out with a calf injury, and Johnson put De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, Dylan Harper and Devin Vassell in the starting group against a Thunder team that has long had more size to throw around.
That is why Spurs vs OKC is drawing attention now: it is not just the first game of a new season, but a rematch of last season’s Western Conference Finals, one the Thunder won after rallying from a 3-2 deficit. The Spurs also arrive after last season’s run to the NBA Finals, so the opener doubles as an early check on whether this roster can keep pace with one of the West’s top teams while injuries already force both sides to adjust.
Johnson had already signaled at media day that the Spurs would play the guard trio of Fox, Castle and Harper more than last season, and he followed through on opening night by starting all three. Vassell replaced Julian Champagnie as the fourth starter, turning the lineup into a smaller, faster group built around pressure and ballhandling rather than bulk. It was a clear choice, not a subtle one, and it put the Spurs’ plan on display immediately.
The problem is the Thunder can answer with length. Chet Holmgren stands 7’1”, and the matchup with a four-guard opening group creates an obvious size question before the game even settles in. The Spurs also had Jayden Quaintance out with a knee injury, while the Thunder were missing Thomas Sorber, Nikola Topic and Otega Oweh, so both teams entered the opener short-handed. That leaves the first few possessions, and the way they are defended, as the real test of the night.
The wider backdrop gives the game more edge. About 10 years after the rivalry between the Spurs and Thunder was described as being reborn, the teams are back in a place where they can be treated as a tier above the rest of the Western Conference. Last season, the Spurs embarrassed the Thunder in the regular season, and the Thunder then turned the tables in the playoffs. If San Antonio’s guard-heavy start works, it will validate Johnson’s willingness to lean into speed. If it does not, the question is no longer about lineup theory. It is whether the Spurs can survive long enough against this kind of size to make that approach work over a full game.
