It may seem strange, but the OKC Thunder fan base was upset on social media, and for good reason. No, they weren’t criticizing a landslide victory; rather, they were upset about how thoroughly the OKC Thunder outplayed the Spurs.
Since the 2019–20 season, there have only been two nationally televised games held at the Paycom Center. The NBA heavily markets an in-season tournament tilt that features the first meeting between two generational big men in Chet Holmgren and Victor Wembanyama.
The Oklahoma City Thunder took the lead in the third quarter and never let it go. The OKC Thunder eventually increased their lead to 40 points and emptied the court in a game that saw six lead changes and ten times.
TNT ended the Oklahoma City Thunder’s rout of the San Antonio Spurs in the In-Season Tournament.
Josh Giddey had a fantastic comeback game, scoring 18 points, grabbing seven rebounds, and dishing out seven assists, while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander finished with a game-high 28 points, six rebounds, five assists, and seven steals. Clearly, the OKC Thunder fan base was in high spirits.
The TNT exclusive broadcast of OKC Thunder was moved from Bricktown to the city of Brotherly Love on what should have been a historic night to showcase the young core. The broadcast partner was unhappy to show a blowout of this magnitude to their national audience, much like a Sunday in the fall.
TNT decided to switch to a more competitive Eastern Conference game, where the 76ers lost 132-126 against the Indiana Pacers, in order to keep viewers interested until their late game began.
The only issue is that neither local feed was operational because it was an exclusive rights broadcast. Consequently, the latter portion of the fourth frame is lost in space forever. In the NBA, network terminations are uncommon.
Arguably, the OKC Thunder’s 123-87 victory over the San Antonio Spurs was a historic achievement. This not only makes the Spurs look bad, but it also helps in the point differential tiebreaker in pool play if the Thunder manage to work their way into a tie and move on to the next round.
