San Antonio Spurs forward Harrison Barnes has made the playoffs in five of his 12 full seasons in the NBA, including two trips to the Finals, a championship and a berth two years ago. At 32 years old, the former Golden State Warrior, Dallas Maverick and Sacramento King is an old man on a Spurs squad that has Keldon Johnson as its longest-tenured player.
Barnes was instrumental in San Antonio’s shorthanded upset of the Oklahoma City Thunder. The University of North Carolina alum scored 20 points in 32 minutes, several coming in a crucial fourth quarter.
Harrison Barnes helps Spurs’ fourth-quarter stand
Despite playing without Victor Wembanyama, Devin Vassell and Jeremy Sochan, the Spurs outscored OKC by 13 in a third quarter that opened up what was a tied game at the half to a 21-point advantage. The Thunder then began to chip away.
ClutchPoints asked Barnes if, as Oklahoma City was mounting a run to get within six, he vocalized any messages to his young teammates.
“There was a lot of communication because we’ve been in that situation earlier this season. We’ve seen how turnovers can let a team back into it, obviously. We get that stop, we’re on the break, Steph [Stephon Castle] throws that lob to Zach [Collins]. We have a turnover that ends up a score on the other end.”
“I think it’s just always having that communication of just valuing the ball and knowing that we’ve done 36, 40 minutes of work, whatever it is, to put ourselves in this position,” the 2012 first-round draft pick continued.
Barnes’ 20 points Tuesday night were second most on the squad behind Johnson’s 22 in what may have proven the Silver and Black’s most impressive win given who they were missing against the then 11-3 Thunder.
“Let’s not give it back just being careless.”
Barnes notices a different Spurs team
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Tuesday night’s contest at the Frost Bank Center represented a second meeting against OKC already this season. The Spurs lost 105-93 in Oklahoma on October 30.
“The biggest thing that Mitch [acting head coach Mitch Johnson] told us before the game was just go out there and be aggressive. We’re going to make mistakes. I think the first time that we played them, we didn’t approach it with the same energy and force that we needed to play with. I think guys were maybe overthinking, being timid, things like that,” Barnes said.
The Thunder, who sit near the top of the Western Conference standings and are expected to make another long playoff run after falling in last year’s second round, were without standout big man Chet Holmgren for this second meeting. Considering the Spurs were without three key pieces, including Holmgren’s rival Wembanyama, another factor proved more telling.
“I think the biggest thing for us was just going out there and playing with energy, knowing we’re going to make mistakes, having the full confidence of the coaching staff behind us and seeing how it plays out.”
It’s effort that helped San Antonio break a two-game skid in winning their fourth out of their last seven contests.