Perhaps overshadowed by the Knicks' 0-3 start, the Spurs have looked vulnerable in their first three games after winning the Western Conference last season.

San Antonio got back in the win column against the Cooper Flagg-less Mavericks on Saturday, but the Spurs started 0-2 with losses to the Thunder and Rockets with Victor Wembanyama put together one of the worst offensive performances of his career against Oklahoma City.

After beating all expectations last season, the Spurs are now facing a championship-or-bust campaign and might be showing that matching those steep expectations isn't easy.

Here's a look at what the start of the season says about the Spurs.

How worried should Spurs be?

Despite a 1-2 start, the Spurs shouldn't sound the alarm. This is a team still figuring out how to operate with Dylan Harper in the starting lineup with De'Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle, and it's understandable if that dynamic takes some time to fully come together.

Both Harper and Fox have played fairly well to start the season. Wembanyama's inefficiency has been a much bigger problem. While it might be fair to wonder whether Wembanyama is capable of making the leap to MVP, there is no doubt he is going to round back into form at some point soon; he isn't someone the Spurs have to worry about.

The Spurs will also have free-agent addition Tobias Harris back from injury in the near future, which should give Mitch Johnson another player who grabs offensive rebounds and helps the younger guys.

Another reason to avoid panicking about the Spurs is the situation around them. The West doesn't seem to be as deep as the East, meaning San Antonio isn't at as much risk of sliding down the standings with a stumble here and there, and the long-term injuries to Jalen Williams and Cason Wallace are a serious blow to a Thunder team that entered the season as the Spurs' top competition in the West.

A team in the East could theoretically be swallowed up after a tough start. With as much talent as the Spurs have, the West just isn't deep enough for a rocky start to derail the season.

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What's gone wrong for the Spurs?

The Spurs haven't gotten the best play out of Wembanyama, who is shooting just 36.5 percent from the field. Sometimes it's that simple: your best players have to play their best, and Wembanyama hasn't.

San Antonio is also shooting less than 32 percent from 3-point range, which is bound to change at some point. That ranks above some of the NBA's worst marks through the first week of the season, but it's more than 10 percentage points behind the unbeaten Timberwolves and Lakers. Expect that to balance out a bit in the near future.

The Spurs are 26th in free throw attempts per game, so their inability to consistently get to the line has made it impossible to make up for their other deficiencies. Facing teams not named the Thunder or Rockets, of course, should help level it all out for San Antonio.

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