If there were any Spurs fans that hadn’t yet “embraced the tank” prior to last night’s preseason opener, they should be ready to now. While you should never take too much stock in a preseason game, especially the first one — during which the Spurs were missing their likely best player in Keldon Johnson and another potential starter in Josh Primo — losses are something Spurs fans need to get used to, and quickly.
Although the point differential likely won’t be as extreme last night’s eye-popping score of 134-96 against a similarly inexperienced (but at this point, more talented) Houston Rockets team on most nights, this is going to be who the Spurs are for much of the 2022-23 season: a young, inexperienced team without a designated point guard, no experienced go-to player in the clutch, and little veteran leadership.