Thunder beat Spurs 116-104 in conference-finals rematch as Gilgeous-Alexander scores 32 and Wembanyama goes 1 for 13

The Oklahoma City Thunder beat the San Antonio Spurs 116-104 at Frost Bank Center, San Antonio, on Tuesday night (US time) in the last of the three NBA opening-night games, which finished at about 4am GMT on Wednesday 21 October. It was the teams’ first meeting since San Antonio won Game 7 of the Western Conference finals 111-103 in Oklahoma City on 30 May, AP reported.

Score by quarter (NBA official scorer’s report): Thunder 34-31-28-23, Spurs 28-16-36-24. Attendance was 19,160.

How it went

Oklahoma City led for all but the opening five minutes, according to AP. About three minutes into the second quarter, De’Aaron Fox was given a Flagrant 1 foul after he and Chet Holmgren became entangled in the paint and Holmgren went to the floor, which led to a scrum in which Victor Wembanyama and Jaylin Williams had to be separated, AP said. The Thunder outscored the Spurs 31-16 in the second quarter to lead 65-44 at half-time, and their biggest lead was 26 points, according to the official report.

San Antonio opened the second half on a 23-9 run to get within single digits, AP reported, but Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jared McCain combined for 25 points after the break.

Key stats

• Gilgeous-Alexander scored 32 points on 13-of-27 shooting with four assists, according to the official box score.
• McCain added 20 points off the bench, making 6 of 8 three-pointers. Holmgren had 14 points and seven rebounds, and Jalen Williams 12 points and seven rebounds.
• Wembanyama had 12 points, 13 rebounds and six blocks but made 1 of 13 shots from the field; his only basket was an alley-oop from Fox as the third quarter ended, AP said. He missed his first 12 shots, including an alley-oop attempt blocked by Thunder rookie Aday Mara, according to AP.
• Stephon Castle led San Antonio with 24 points, Dylan Harper scored 18 and Fox had 14 points and seven assists.
• The Spurs shot 38.7% from the field and 10 of 37 from three-point range; the Thunder shot 45.3% and 14 of 31, according to the official report.

Next: Oklahoma City host Denver on Thursday and San Antonio host Houston in Austin on Friday (US time), according to AP.

See also: our NBA opening-night round-up and the NBA rookie extension deadline.