Soon after, it was a comfortable win over the Houston Rockets as ex-Spur, Fred VanVleet, as per usual, went off against San Antone, leading the Rockets in scoring with rookie, Reed Sheppard alongside him, along with Houston's athletic youth movement. Dejounte Murray closed in on a triple-double, as the Spurs new-blood defensive talent made a phalanx against Houston.
The OKC Thunder, with new pieces of their own, including ex-Spur, Alex Caruso, came hard next game, but fell short just the same. Jalen Green heard his first M-V-P chants during clutch free throws, a bit premature but welcoming by the Spurs faithful all the same. "He's got fire inside him," Dejounte Murray spoke highly of Green, who impressed the veterans on the team by arranging and hosting a players-only mini training camp before the season opener. "He reminds me of myself when I was younger. Looking forward to helping see him grow here with the rest of our team."
Speaking of growing, Victor Wembanyama nearly redeemed a bad shooting night next game by hitting back-to-back clutch 3PTers and blocking John Collins late as the Hornets seized control at home in a strong game by LaMelo Ball and Mark Williams. It was a fierce contest by the final buzzer, highlighted by ferocious rebounding from the Spurs and defensive moments, a block on Wembanyama by both Dillon Brooks & John Collins, with Kelly Oubre, Jr, blocking a desperation heave in the corner by Charlotte with just .8s left on the clock. This happened after Collins redeemed himself on a beastly dunk past "Wemby", a clutch 3PTer by Jalen Green & a near-4PT play by Kelly Oubre, Jr.
The highest praise is due for Dejounte Murray, who had some fierce dunks over the Hornets defense throughout the game, as did Jalen Green, but nothing beat the coast-to-coast driving highlight dunk over Mark Williams, which sent the crowd into a collective roar and the Spurs bench airborne. Murray was mauled as the Hornets called timeout, something the Spurs didn't have before Dejounte took his full court journey. On the inbound, Murray saw Jalen Green streaking down-court, but took it upon himself to lead his team back into control of the hard-fought game. "They had our backs against the wall. But hey, I gotta be the leader, for better or worse, and when it pays off, it's such a great feeling. Plus, Jalen had a sick dunk earlier and I had to show I still got it, too. In all seriousness, we're just 3 games in, and what I'm already seeing from our new guys is off the chain. We are becoming a force out there," Murray told Allie LaForce as they watched his game-winning drive on the jumbotron. "I'm just trying to do what I can to bring the best out of our guys, who are the future of this game we love." Next up? Western Conference Runner-Up, Dallas Mavericks.
