Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Drops 32 as Thunder Beat Spurs

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 32 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder opened their season by beating the San Antonio Spurs 116-104 on Tuesday night in San Antonio, the first meeting since the Spurs knocked them out of last season's playoffs.

That is the part Thunder fans will remember. San Antonio won Game 7 of the Western Conference finals 111-103 in Oklahoma City on May 30 and ended the title defense. Nearly five months later, OKC led for all but the opening five minutes of the rematch, per The Associated Press.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jared McCain carried it

Gilgeous-Alexander went 13 for 27 from the field and added six rebounds, four assists, three steals and three blocks, per the ESPN box score. Jared McCain gave him real help off the bench with 20 points, hitting 6 of 8 from 3-point range.

When the Spurs made their push after halftime, those two answered. Gilgeous-Alexander and McCain combined for 25 points in the second half, per AP, and San Antonio never got all the way back.

If you only catch one stretch on the replay, watch how SGA kept getting to his spots every time the building got loud.

A rough opener for Victor Wembanyama

Victor Wembanyama finished with 12 points, but he was 1 for 13 from the field. He missed his first 12 shots, including an alley-oop attempt that was blocked by 7-foot-3 rookie Aday Mara. His only field goal came on an alley-oop from De'Aaron Fox as time expired in the third quarter. AP noted it was his fewest made field goals since going 2 for 5 against Minnesota on May 10.

He still pulled down 13 rebounds and blocked six shots, and he made 10 of 12 free throws, per the box score. Stephon Castle led San Antonio with 24 points.

Spurs fans can live with a cold shooting night from Wemby. Six blocks says the defense is still there.

The scrum that flipped the first half

This rivalry did not cool off over the summer. About three minutes into the second quarter, Fox was given a flagrant 1 foul for tossing Chet Holmgren to the floor after the two got tangled in the paint. A scrum followed, and Wembanyama and Jaylin Williams had to be separated. Wembanyama, Jaylin Williams, Jalen Williams and Kenrich Williams were each given a technical foul.

Oklahoma City used it as fuel. The Thunder went on a 9-0 run, and after a Harrison Barnes 3-pointer stopped it, they scored 13 straight, capped by a Cason Wallace 3 for a 59-33 lead. OKC won the second quarter 31-16 and led 65-44 at the half.

The Spurs opened the second half on a 23-9 run to get within single digits after trailing by 26, but that was as close as it got.

For Thunder fans, that second quarter was the whole statement: get shoved, then go up 26.

What's next

The Thunder host the Denver Nuggets on Thursday night. The Spurs host the Houston Rockets on Friday night at Moody Center in Austin.

McCain played only 22 minutes and still hit six 3s, so if you need a cheap Thunder shooter against Denver on Thursday, he is the name to watch, and Wembanyama's 13 rebounds and six blocks are why you keep him in Friday lineups even after a 1 for 13 night.