Spurs to start 3-guard lineup in season opener vs. Thunder - ESPN

SAN ANTONIO — Spurs coach Mitch Johnson on Friday squashed any suspense going into the season by announcing his three-guard lineup will start in Tuesday's opener against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

«We're planning on starting that same crew [in the opener],» Johnson said.

San Antonio first deployed its three-guard starting lineup of De'Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper, alongside Devin Vassell and Victor Wembanyama, in a preseason win over the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday, when the Spurs finished at plus-10 in the trio's 11 minutes together on the floor. The Suns rested most of their rotation players in that outing, which started with the Spurs shooting 1 of 10 from the floor.

San Antonio shot 2 of 9 on 3-pointers when Fox, Castle and Harper shared the floor against the Suns, with Vassell and Wembanyama combining to miss all six of their 3-point attempts. Despite a size disadvantage, the Spurs won the rebounding battle 13-11 when the trio played.

«When it clicked, it clicked,» Wembanyama said. «The biggest thing is I've got handlers all around me, guys we want to put the ball in their hands and pick and roll around me.»

Wembanyama finished with the most total touches (24) while playing with the three guards. Wembanyama brought the ball up the floor for five possessions, second most when sharing the court with the trio.

Fox, Castle, and Harper played just 69 minutes together last season, including 25 in the NBA Finals, with Spurs opponents outscoring them by 47 points in those minutes. The Spurs finished with a plus-9.4 net rating when just Fox and Castle shared the floor in the regular season, plus-6.2 with Fox and Harper and plus-11.0 with Harper and Castle.

Despite last year's small sample size with the three