In a preview of the upcoming opening night matchup, the Spurs faced the Orlando Magic. It should have been a comfortable win for the Silver and Black, but after building up a big lead in the second half, Gregg Popovich went deep into his bench while Orlando kept its starters in. The result was a thrilling ending that saw San Antonio’s third stringers barely hang on to defeat the home team 101-100.
While there was plenty of experimentation later on, the Spurs went with their likely starters for this one and played a rotation that could resemble the one they will use in the regular season.