SAN ANTONIO — Oklahoma City opened its season Tuesday night by beating the team that ended its last one. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 32 points and the Thunder led nearly wire to wire in a 116-104 win over the San Antonio Spurs at Frost Bank Center, the first meeting between the clubs since San Antonio eliminated Oklahoma City on May 30 in a seventh game of the West finals.
Jared McCain added 20 points and matched his career best with six 3-pointers, including one with about two and a half minutes to go that restored a double-digit lead. Oklahoma City went 14 of 31 from deep and its reserves outscored the San Antonio bench 48-29. The Thunder trailed only in the opening five minutes.
Victor Wembanyama had a rough night at the offensive end, finishing with 12 points while hitting only 1 of 13 shots from the field. He missed his first dozen attempts, including an alley-oop try that was rejected by 7-foot-3 Thunder rookie Aday Mara, the 12th overall pick, before converting a lob from De’Aaron Fox at the end of the third quarter. He still blocked five shots. Stephon Castle led San Antonio with 24 points and seven rebounds, and Dylan Harper scored 18.
Tempers flared early in the second quarter. Fox was assessed a Flagrant 1 foul for throwing Chet Holmgren to the floor after the two got tangled in the lane, and the scrum that followed brought technical fouls for Wembanyama and three Oklahoma City players named Williams: Jaylin, Jalen and Kenrich.
The Thunder answered with a 9-0 run and later scored 13 straight points to build a 59-33 lead, then took a 65-44 edge into halftime after winning the second quarter 31-16. San Antonio opened the third quarter on a 23-9 burst to get within single digits and pulled close again late, but Gilgeous-Alexander and McCain combined for 25 second-half points to hold off the comeback.
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