Photo by Zach Beeker/NBAE via Getty Images The preseason begins with the Spur playing against last season’s first seed in the West 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. Gather round my friends, as we begin a new season (preseason?) of Spurs basketball and rekindle an old tradition of watching the game together. After what feels like several lifetimes of basketball famine, the Silver and Black is back, with a familiar old man on the sidelines leading his team against another young team, one that’s in a transition from rebuilding to contending. The Thunder have been successfully navigating that process for the last few years, culminating with the first seed in the Western Conference in last season’s NBA playoffs. This year, the Thunder is looking to take the next step and transfer that regular season success into playoff success—which came up short last year in the second round with elimination by Luka Doncic and the Mavericks. The Spurs are maybe a few years away from that level of success, but with Wembanyama on the roster, the future might come a little earlier than planned. Preseason games don’t count in the standings, but tonight could be a measuring stick on how well Coach Popovich’s team will is coming together. Most teams that I’ve seen so far in preseason are playing their starters a little less than three quarters, and giving the bench guys a chance to finish out the game. That has led to some thrilling finishes, like the buzzer beater triple by Lindy Waters III that gave the Warriors a win over the Clippers on Saturday. Pop is pretty conservative with his player minutes, so it remains to be seen if we’ll see much of Wembanyama tonight, but Castle should play if he’s healthy. We’ll get to see a lot of play from guys who will be in Austin when the G-League begins their season. * Preseason basketball Game Prediction: Nathan Mensah blocks at least one Chuck Holmgren shot. One final word: Go Spurs GOOOOOO!! San Antonio Spurs vs Oklahoma City ThunderOctober 7, 2024 | 7:00 PM CTStreaming: NBA League PassTV: NBATV, CW35 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.