SAN ANTONIO — Tre Jones did his part on the offensive end of the court in the San Antonio Spurs' 132-118 surprise win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday night.
He poured in 17 points and joined five other Spurs in double-figure scoring in the win.
That balanced offensive attack was vital in the win and is needed to assist the team's scoring duo of Victor Wembanyama and Devin Vassell.
“I think we know that Devin [Vassell] and Victor [Wembanyama] are always going to be scoring the ball at a high clip. They get so much attention on the offensive end from the opposing team," Jones said.
The Spurs were clicking on the offensive end against the Thunder.
Jeremy Sochan scored 21 points (11 points in the fourth quarter), Wembanyama and Vassell scored 28 points, Zach Collins added 13 points, and Keldon Johnson scored 10.
More importantly, the team recorded a whopping 39 assists on 48 made shots and just 11 turnovers in the win.
"I think it's just important for everybody else on the court to continue to try to find our spots throughout our offense," said Jones.
With opposing teams knowing the offensive heavy lifting will land on Vassell and Wembanyama and defenses keying on them, Jones sees how important it is for the team to take advantage of open shots at the rim.
"See when a guy may go double or help too much and then make him pay for it. So, continue to just look for our shots as well," he said.
Vassell notes the importance of having multiple players scoring because there will be games when either he or Wemby may not have good scoring outings.
"It's huge. Every night isn't going to be Vic has 30 (points), or I have 30 (points), or whatever the case may be. We always need contributions."
Said Vassell: "Just everybody came in and played their part and played a big role, and that was huge."
He also credited Jones' three-point shooting (3 of 5 from the three-point line) to push the team over the Thunder.
"Tre knocking down a couple of threes today, which were some big shots, and Jeremy (Sochan) getting going when he did was huge for us," he said.
The Spurs out-scored the Thunder in the second quarter (32-27) and exploded for 34 fourth-quarter points, off 60% shooting, and just two turnovers to ice the game.
Those 34 points in the final frame significantly improved from an average of 29.4 points this season.
San Antonio will look to continue to show positive developmental steps against Indiana on Sunday night. They will look to duplicate their success against one of the best in the East, beginning with playing for one another on both ends of the floor.
"Continue to try to play for one another, but also play off of each other," Jones said. "Just play for one another."