Thunder Beat Spurs 116-104 as Wembanyama Struggles

Oklahoma City opened its 2026-27 NBA season with a 116-104 road victory over San Antonio, led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's 32 points. The Thunder controlled most of the game against the Spurs, who eliminated them in last season's Western Conference Finals, while Victor Wembanyama endured the worst shooting performance of his career in terms of consecutive missed attempts to start a game. According to game reports published by TheScore and Yahoo Sports on October 21, Wembanyama finished with 12 points, 13 rebounds and six blocks but made just one of 13 field-goal attempts.

The San Antonio star missed his first 12 shots, including an alley-oop attempt blocked by Oklahoma City rookie Aday Mara, before converting a pass from De'Aaron Fox as the third quarter expired. Gilgeous-Alexander also contributed five rebounds and four assists, according to Yahoo Sports. Jared McCain added 20 points, shooting 6-for-8 from three-point range, as the Thunder maintained their advantage when San Antonio threatened to recover.

Oklahoma City established control in the second quarter, outscoring the Spurs 31-16 to take a 65-44 halftime lead. A 13-0 scoring run helped extend the advantage to 59-33, with Cason Wallace finishing the sequence with a three-pointer.

San Antonio responded after the break with a 23-9 run, cutting a deficit that had reached 26 points to single digits. Gilgeous-Alexander and McCain then combined for 25 points in the second half to help Oklahoma City preserve the win. The game also featured a physical confrontation early in the second quarter. De'Aaron Fox received a Flagrant 1 foul after throwing Chet Holmgren to the floor during an entanglement in the paint, triggering a larger confrontation involving players from both teams.

Victor Wembanyama and Jaylin Williams had to be separated after pushing each other. Wembanyama, Jaylin Williams, Jalen Williams and Kenrich Williams each received technical fouls following the incident, according to TheScore's game report. The result renewed a rivalry shaped by last season's Western Conference Finals, when San Antonio defeated Oklahoma City 4-3 in the series and won Game 7 by a score of 111-103 on May 30. The teams met 12 times during the 2025-26 season, including four regular-season games, an NBA Cup semifinal and seven conference finals games; the Spurs won eight of those contests, according to Tulsa World.

Oklahoma City is scheduled to host Denver on Thursday night, while San Antonio is set to host Houston in Austin on Friday night. The rivals are not scheduled to meet again until February 11, according to Yahoo Sports.