SAS 116, OKC 106: Williams Wins Duel With Wembanyama
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Jasmine "Jazz" Porter
University Student ยท Oklahoma City Thunder fan
Thunder Missing Half Their Squad Gets Absolutely Cooked in San Antonio
Look, I'm not gonna sugarcoat this. The Thunder showed up to the Alamo missing their entire starting five and got absolutely punched in the mouth by San Antonio. Final score 116-106, and it wasn't even that close in the fourth quarter. As someone who stays up till 3am watching my boys play, this one stung. But here's what actually happened from a fantasy perspective.
| Player | ESPN FP | Yahoo FP | Tonight | Season Avg | +/- Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jaylin Williams | 49.0 | 48.4 | 24/12/4 | 5.6/4.9/2.5 | +18.4 |
| Victor Wembanyama | 42.0 | 45.8 | 22/14/2 | 24.1/11.0/2.7 | -2.1 |
| De'Aaron Fox | 52.0 | 45.8 | 15/4/10 | 19.8/4.1/6.2 | -4.8 |
| Aaron Wiggins | 54.0 | 45.8 | 20/4/6 | 10.5/3.5/1.8 | +9.5 |
| Kenrich Williams | 39.0 | 38.8 | 25/9/2 | 6.4/3.3/1.6 | +18.6 |
| Keldon Johnson | 45.0 | 38.2 | 25/6/2 | 13.4/6.0/1.4 | +11.6 |
| Stephon Castle | 37.0 | 35.6 | 14/3/4 | 16.6/5.0/7.0 | -2.6 |
| Cason Wallace | 33.0 | 33.1 | 13/3/5 | 7.8/3.0/2.0 | +5.2 |
| Luke Kornet | 24.0 | 28.0 | 4/15/2 | 7.6/6.7/2.0 | -3.6 |
| Carter Bryant | 26.0 | 23.5 | 11/5/1 | 2.6/1.7/0.2 | +8.4 |
When Bench Players Go Nuclear
Jaylin Williams putting up 48.4 Yahoo FP is legitimately insane. He was +18.4 from his season average, dropped 24/12/4 on 6-15 shooting and made FOUR threes. The backup center went absolutely off because, well, nobody else was there to stop him. This isn't sustainable. He's averaging 5.6 PPG all season. But for tonight? He was the best player on the court. That perfect 8-8 from the line helped, and the volume on threes was wild for a big man.
Kenrich Williams and Aaron Wiggins both absolutely went off too. Williams scored 25 points, 9 rebounds, 4 threes in 35 minutes. He was +18.6 from his season average. Wiggins dropped 20/4/6 with 5 steals and was +9.5. These aren't your stars stepping up, these are role guys suddenly getting massive minutes because half the roster didn't travel.
Here's the real story: When the Thunder are missing Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (the reigning MVP, by the way), Isaiah Hartenstein, Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams, and Lu Dort, everyone else gets fed. But don't you dare add these guys thinking this is the new normal.
San Antonio Actually Played Ball
Keldon Johnson had himself a game too. 25/6/2 with 4 threes in just 28 minutes, +11.6 from his average. De'Aaron Fox chipped in 45.8 Yahoo FP despite being -4.8 from his average. He dished 10 assists though, which is his bread and butter. The Spurs were efficient and didn't let the Thunder's charity minutes beat them.
Victor Wembanyama was quiet by his standards. 22/14/2 is solid, but he was basically at his season average. The All-Defensive First Team selection didn't need to go nuclear when everyone else was eating.
Who Actually Matters Here
Real talk: This game is a complete disaster for Thunder fantasy relevance. You've got Isaiah Joe playing 37 minutes and putting up only 19 Yahoo FP on 1-7 shooting. Cason Wallace was decent with 13/3/5 and 3 steals, but he's a rookie playing 34 minutes in a game his team got crushed in. That's not a blueprint for the future.
The rotation guys who went off tonight? They got that opportunity because of a crazy injury situation. Brooks Barnhizer came out of nowhere with 23.1 Yahoo FP off the bench, but he's averaging 1.1 PPG. That's not fantasy gold, that's a one-night mirage.
The Real Fantasy Lesson
Don't panic if your studs were out. The Thunder's missing essentially their entire core, which means this box score is basically fantasy noise. When the squad gets healthy, this game means absolutely nothing. Jaylin Williams isn't suddenly a league winner because he got 39 minutes of playing time against a depleted Thunder squad.
For Spurs fans, Keldon Johnson showed some nice upside, but again, half the Thunder weren't even on the court. Harrison Barnes is now getting +0.1% added (up to 6.3% owned), which tells you exactly how much this game matters in the grand scheme. He had 22.9 Yahoo FP on a 9/7/2 line with some threes. Meh.
The takeaway: Ignore most of this performance when making moves. The Thunder will get healthy, the bench guys will go back to being bench guys, and this becomes a forgotten footnote. The Spurs played well enough, but they weren't tested by anything close to OKC's full strength.
That's all from me. Time to make it through til 3am checking injury reports.