Three Tactical Changes the OKC Thunder can Make to Beat the Spurs in Game 2

The Oklahoma City Thunder lost a historic Game 1 bout on their home floor, outlasted by Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs, 122-115.

The home team was able to make things interesting in the fourth and extra innings, though OKC never felt like it had much control over the game. They would see a three-point lead in overtime, which was promptly met with a logo 3-pointer from Wembanyama, who would then cruise in the second overtime period.

The game was one of the more strategic seen this season, with both teams and staffs making changes all night long.

Head coach Mark Daigneault and his staff have plenty of avenues toward improvement before Game 2. Here's three changes they can make in Game 2 to even up the series:

Mix up the starting lineup

The Thunder rolled with their double-big lineup of Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein to start, as they have for the past two seasons. Despite that, it likely wasn't the play, given Wembanyama play-style of aggresively putting a lid on the rim.

The result was a 7-0 run for San Antonio, granting leagues of space for Hartenstein, who's unable to space the floor. He would be pulled within less than three minutes.

Out of halftime, the Thunder went with a different starting five, swapping in Cason Wallace for Hartenstein, who would then match Luke Kornet's minutes the remainder of the game.

OKC could certainly continue to hammer home the Hartenstein minutes in the starting five, though it could be best served to simply start the game without playing in a potential hole.

Trim the rotational fat

Daigneault and co. are known for reaching deep into their rotation, staying true to that in playing 12 players on the double-overtime loss.

While they tried to maintain health and rest, they'll likely need to cut that down some moving forward.

One tangible way is nixing the Aaron Wiggins minutes, which were already odd given the context of his season. He hasn't been the sharpshooter he was this time last year, nearly falling out of the rotation entirely near the end of the season.

Despite that, he played in four minutes in Game 1, failing to hit a shot on three tries from beyond the arc and finishing as a minus-seven overall.

There's little doubt that Wiggins will be able to return to his previous form as an impactful player, but the hope of it happening in the highest-leverage minutes in a calendar year are slim.

Play Chet Holmgren on Victor Wembanyama

The Thunder have taken to playing "under" Victor Wembanyama with shorter defenders, such as Alex Caruso and Jalen Williams. They did as good a job as they could against Wembanyama, who dominated, but expended tons of energy in the process.

Many have called for Defensive Player of the Year runner-up in Holmgren to guard Wembanyama due to size, though his guarding Wemby could aid in a much different way.

Wembanyama dominated on the glass all night long, posting 24 rebounds in total, a crucial nine of which were offensive and led to second-chance points for San Antonio. In a game that came down to the wire, Wembanyama's rebounding over his smaller foes was a real game-changer.

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