The arena was amped, the fans were in their seats early, but the San Antonio Spurs laid a dud in the first half and could never recover as they suffered a 116-104 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder at the Frost Bank Center on Tuesday night.

San Antonio shot just 29 percent in the first half, including a dismal 31 percent from three-point range in the opening 12 minutes. The Spurs began the second half on a 14-3 run to cut a 26-point deficit to just seven points, but turnovers and mistakes would halt their momentum as Oklahoma City built up their lead back to 15 points later in the period.

Victor Wembanyama suffered his worst shooting performance of his young career, finishing with 12 points on 1-13 shooting (7%) and 13 rebounds. After the game, Head Coach Mitch Johnson declined to cast blame solely on his star player. 

“I think everybody struggled pretty equally,” Johnson said when asked about Wembanyama’s performance. “I know his field goal [percentage] will stand out, but we all participated in that one.”

Johnson said his team did not come out firing as expected, saying the Spurs may have been a bit excited and could not properly channel that energy when needed.

“It didn’t feel very connected,” he said. “Execution wasn’t very good, and I thought we competed and played hard, just didn’t feel like we put our energy in the right places.

Stephon Castle, who led the Spurs with 24 points on 9-for-20 shooting, agreed with his coach’s assessment of the game.

“I think that we got excited with shots,” Castle said of the offensive struggles. “We were taking the first one instead of making them work on defense and finding a better shot.”

Despite Johnson not wanting it to stick, Wembanyama’s poor night was the highlight of the evening. Last season, he averaged 18.4 points per game during the regular season against the Thunder. After the game, the Spurs’ big man admitted he did not feel like himself for most of the night.

“I need to go back to playing the basketball I like,” Wembanyama said. “This is not the sport I like right here. I’ve got no reason to be hesitant, no reason to not be myself. I’m good when I have fun. I missed a lot of shots I usually don’t miss. But after that, I didn’t go back to these shots, and I wasn’t decisive. I might be overthinking it. I don’t need to do more. I need to think less probably.”

Wemby added that he did not feel like himself, and when asked he said “for many reasons” but did not go into it.

Oklahoma City’s defense was a tough nut to crack for the Spurs, but their offense was led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s 32 points on 48 percent shooting from the floor. Jared McCain added 20 points, including going 6-for-8 from deep. Chet Holmgren rebounded from a poor Western Conference Finals to score 14 points and pull down seven boards.

With Wembanyama struggling, the Spurs’ three-guard lineup trio of Castle, De’Aaron Fox, and Dylan Harper combined for 56 of San Antonio’s 104 points on the night. Devin Vassell had a poor night with seven points on 25 percent shooting.

“We can’t get away with these type of mistakes against a team like this,” Wembanyama said.

With one game down and 81 left to play, the Spurs will hope that their clunker will be behind them early, and they can learn and move on. Who waits for them next? Kevin Durant and the Houston Rockets in Austin on Friday night.

“It’s good to get the first one (bad game) out of the way,” Johnson said. “Got a lot of tape to look at and learn from.”

Game Notes

• Despite the loss, the Spurs fans made the Frost Bank Center feel like Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals all over again. It was loud from the opening tip and when the Spurs made their second half comeback attempt. Nice job, Spurs faithful!
• Dylan Harper hobbled over to the bench in the second half after grimacing, but was only out for a few moments before returning to finish the game.
• Carter Bryant had a few moments where he shined and others where he still is showing some growing pains. This will be a big season for the second year player and he’s one I am keeping my eye on as the season goes on.
• I know fans may overreact to this game, but breathe. Let’s see how the team responds to the loss in Austin on Friday.
  

Brandin Podziemski outlines his goals for fourth NBA season with Warriors originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

The Warriors are betting on Brandin Podziemski to take a big jump in his fourth NBA season, signing the 23-year-old guard to a five-year, $110 million contract extension in the preseason. 

Podziemski discussed his goals for the pivotal season with NBC Sports Bay Area’s Bonta Hill and Dalton Johnson. 

“I think, first and foremost, win as many games as we can before Jimmy [Butler] and Moses [Moody] come back,” Podziemski stated. “I think getting off to a really good start is super important, the same way the ’22 championship team did.” 

Wins were hard to come by for the Warriors last season. They finished under .500 for the first time since their abysmal 2019-20 NBA season and missed the playoffs for the second time in four years. 

In particular, a sluggish start to the season was only made worse when Butler’s season ended due to injury in mid-January.  

Podziemski says coach Steve Kerr got the team to focus on stacking wins early heading into the new season. 

“Steve emphasized it the first two days in camp, like how good of a start we can get off to?” Podziemski recalled. “And not put ourselves behind the eight ball and try to play catch up in February and March.” 

Podziemski’s availability while the team managed other injuries helped the Warriors stay somewhat afloat. He was the only Warrior to play all 82 games last season. That streak comes to an end Wednesday, however, after Podziemski was ruled out of the Warriors’ season opener.

But last season, Podziemski found his best form late in the campaign. 

“I know if I, at minimum, play the same way I played the last six weeks of the season, I’ll be a pretty good player,” Podziemski stated. “But doing that combined with the things I worked on this summer, I think I’ll be able to play even better, which is exciting for me.” 

In the final six weeks of the season, Podziemski averaged 18.1 points per game, shooting 47.5 percent from the field and 39.7 percent from 3-point range. 

His final 11 games were even better, averaging 20.1 points per game with an incredible 52.2 field goal percentage and 42.4 percent on 3-pointers. 

Kerr told reporters Monday that he is “leaning towards” a starting lineup which includes Podziemski, who started 43 games last season.  

If Podziemski can produce close to his late-season performance, it would be huge for the Warriors as they wait for the return of their second-leading scorer in Butler. 

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‘If not the fastest': How Maxey's speed drove Sixers when shots didn't fall originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Joel Embiid had something to tell Tyrese Maxey after the Sixers walked off the Madison Square Garden floor victorious Tuesday night.

“I told Tyrese after the game, I was like, ‘We’ve been going against these guys for the last couple of years, and tonight felt a lot different than in the past,’” Embiid said.

In one important way, it was.

The Sixers scored 24 fast-break points, their most against the Knicks since Feb. 4, 2011, when they scored 26. Only that 2011 total was higher across the 63 Sixers-Knicks meetings covered by Sportradar’s game logs dating to the start of the 2010-11 season.

Maxey accounted for half of the 24.

That production carried the Sixers through a difficult shooting night in their 106-100 season-opening win. Philadelphia shot 41.6 percent from the field and went 11 for 40 from three-point range. Embiid went 5 for 15. LeBron James went 5 for 13. Jaylen Brown missed 11 of his 18 shots.

The Sixers made up for it by forcing 14 turnovers and converting them into 22 points. Maxey scored nine of those points and finished with 12 on the fast break. He led Philadelphia with 28 points in a team-high 39 minutes and 34 seconds.

“He doesn’t seem like he gets tired,” James said.

Brown wants Maxey applying that pressure throughout those minutes.

“I want him to continue to do that for the whole game if he can,” Brown said.

“They’ve all been on me about being aggressive,” Maxey said. “Every last one of them.”

The Sixers spent the offseason talking about playing faster. Maxey was always going to be central to that plan. It took less than a minute for him to show why.

With 11:04 remaining in the first quarter, Maxey stole a Karl-Anthony Towns pass. Three seconds later, he pulled up from 26 feet and gave the Sixers a 6-0 lead.

The play showed why Maxey can be so damaging before a defense gets set. Rather than drive toward a retreating defender, he stopped behind the three-point line and took the open shot New York’s turnover created.

“Speed. Speed,” Brown said when asked what stood out about playing alongside Maxey. “His ability to just take off and put a defense in a tough spot, the pressure he puts on.”

Maxey’s impact in transition went beyond his 12 points.

With 7:15 remaining in the third quarter, he collected a Jalen Brunson miss and found James for a layup four seconds later. Early in the fourth, Embiid blocked an Andre Drummond dunk attempt and James grabbed the rebound. Five seconds after Embiid’s block, Maxey was finishing through contact at the other end.

The three-point play stretched Philadelphia’s lead to nine.

The Sixers’ best transition possessions did not all start with steals. Some began with rim protection or a defensive rebound, which made their second-half improvement on defense important to how they generated offense.

“If we can find spaces for him to get out and run, he’s going to create offense for everybody when he does that,” Brown said. “So just continue to use his speed, continue to use his skill to get downhill, and that’s going to be great for us.”

The Knicks felt every bit of that pressure.

“All throughout the game, it looked like we were running in mud,” Knicks head coach Mike Brown said, according to the New York Post.

The Sixers scored seven fast-break points in the first half, then added 17 in the second.

“That’s where the game was won and lost, especially in the third quarter when our starters were out there,” Brown said.

The Sixers outscored New York 29-18 in the third, turning a four-point halftime deficit into a seven-point advantage. Their half-court offense remained uneven, but their defense kept creating chances to score before the Knicks could organize.

“Defense kept us afloat,” Embiid said. “We couldn’t make shots.”

Maxey has steadily become more productive in those situations.

Excluding his rookie season, when he made eight starts, his fast-break scoring average has increased every year. It rose from 3.3 points per game in 2021-22 to 3.9, 4.0, 4.7 and then 5.5 last season.

Maxey led the NBA with 382 total fast-break points in 2025-26 and tied for second in per-game production. The only player ahead of him was James at 5.7.

Now they are teammates.

Playing beside James, Brown and Embiid could reduce the number of possessions Maxey needs to create from a standstill. It could also produce more of the opportunities that suit him best.

James can grab a rebound and throw an outlet pass. Brown and VJ Edgecombe can force turnovers or fill a lane. Embiid can protect the rim and begin a possession before Maxey races in the opposite direction.

Tuesday was Maxey’s 23rd regular-season game with at least 10 fast-break points. Before the opener, he had averaged 3.9 fast-break points across 18 regular-season meetings with New York. His previous high against the Knicks was nine, a mark he had reached three times before scoring 12 Tuesday.

Philadelphia reached 24 fast-break points only nine times during the entire 2025-26 regular season. In those games, the Sixers averaged 21.9 points off turnovers. They landed almost exactly on that combination Tuesday.

Maxey’s final basket provided the clearest example.

With New York within four points, Maxey intercepted OG Anunoby’s pass and immediately accelerated in the opposite direction. Three seconds after the steal, he dunked and forced the Knicks to call timeout.

“Tyrese was keeping us afloat offensively while me, I didn’t have it going and some of the other guys,” Embiid said. “And then defensively, he’s taken a step being better.”

The Sixers still have considerable work ahead. Their spacing, timing and lineup combinations remain unfinished. Brown said the group is “not even at the tip of the iceberg” when it comes to building chemistry.

But their first game showed how they can survive when their shots are not falling. Their defense can create openings, and Maxey can turn those openings into points before the opposition gets settled.

James has played with hundreds of teammates over 24 seasons. When asked for a player whose speed resembled Maxey’s, he named Dennis Schröder, his teammate during two separate stints with the Lakers.

Otherwise, James struggled to find an equal.

“He’s one of the fastest guys in the league, if not the fastest, with or without the ball,” James said. “That’s just going to be key for our team, to continue to put pressure on the defense. Obviously, he consistently can do that.”

LeBron James scored 14 points on his debut for the Philadelphia 76ers as they defeated champions the New York Knicks on the NBA season's opening night.

The 41-year-old James, entering a record-extending 24th season in the league with his fourth team after his summer move from the LA Lakers, also racked up seven assists as his new side triumphed 106-100.

Tyrese Maxey top-scored with 28 points for the 76ers, while Jaylen Brown, who also made his debut after joining the 76ers from the Boston Celtics in a high profile trade for Paul George, scored 19 points with eight rebounds and six assists.

The Knicks enjoyed title celebrations prior to the match, raising their third title banner to the rafters at Madison Square Garden in the presence of a crowd that included celebrity Knicks fans Ben Stiller and Spike Lee.

The Knicks ended a 53-year title drought with their victory over the San Antonio Spurs in last season's NBA Finals but were unable to open their season with a win as the 76ers held out after taking the lead in the third quarter.

Jalen Brunson led the scoring for the Knicks with 21 points and Karl-Anthony Towns picked up 19 points with 12 rebounds.

"I could be a lot better," James told broadcaster NBC. "Still getting my rhythm, obviously just a little bit over two weeks with the new squad.

"But I like the way we played. I think we played exceptionally well, especially defensively."

In the opening match of the NBA's 81st season, the Detroit Pistons fought back in the second half to win 121-113 against the Boston Celtics.

Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren added 22 points each and Duncan Robinson scored 15 of his 21 in the fourth quarter as the home side secured their victory with a 23-0 scoring run.

Celtics debutant Paul George scored 38 points for his new side in a match between last season's top two regular-season teams.

In the night's final encounter, back-to-back NBA most valuable player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 32 points for the Oklahoma City Thunder as they completed a 116-104 win over the San Antonio Spurs.

Stephon Castle top-scored for the Spurs with 24 points but his side were unable to match the form that saw them put out defending champions Thunder in last season's Western Conference finals.

Victor Wembanyama made just one basket in 13 attempts for the Spurs but contributed 13 rebounds and six blocked shots and scored 12 points largely thanks to 10 free throws.

"Obviously, this is the team that eliminated us from achieving our goal," Gilgeous-Alexander said.

"But for us, I think it was more like we're just happy to be back. It's a longer summer when you don't win and we felt that this summer."

SAN ANTONIO — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 32 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder opened their season with a 116-104 victory over the San Antonio Spurs, the team that ended their dreams of a title defense last season.

San Antonio star Victor Wembanyama had 12 points but was 1 for 13 from the field. It was his fewest field goals since going 2 for 5 against Minnesota on May 10. Wembanyama’s lone field goal came on an alley-oop pass from De’Aaron Fox as time expired in the third quarter.

Wembanyama missed his first 12 shots, including having an alley-oop attempt blocked by 7-foot-3 rookie Aday Mara.

Jared McCain added 20 points on 6-for-8 shooting on 3-pointers as Oklahoma City led for all but the opening five minutes of the game.

The Spurs beat the Thunder 111-103 in Oklahoma City in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals on May 30 in their previous matchup.

Nearly five months apart did not cool this heated rivalry.

Three minutes into the second quarter Fox received a Flagrant Foul 1 for tossing Chet Holmgren to the court after they became entangled in the paint.

The body slam led to a huge scrum with Wembanyama and Jaylin Williams having to be separated after pushing each other. Wembanyama, Williams, Jalen Williams and Kenrich Williams each received a technical for the dust up.

Oklahoma City went on a 9-0 run after the scuffle with Jalen and Kenrich Williams accounting for five points. Harrison Barnes’ 3-pointer ended the run, but the Thunder responded by scoring 13 straight capped by Cason Wallace’s 3-pointer for a 59-33 lead.

Oklahoma City outscored San Antonio 31-16 in the second quarter in taking a 65-44 lead at the half.

The Spurs opened the second half on a 23-9 run to pull within single digits after trailing by 26 in the first half.

Gilgeous-Alexander and McCain stepped up when San Antonio pulled close, combining for 25 points in the second half.

The Knicks will remember the night of October 20th for the rest of their lives. 

Championship banner. Huge rings. Adulation from a sold-out crowd. 

“It was really special to have that moment again here in New York after 53 years,” Karl-Anthony Towns said. 

The rest of the night, though, was largely forgettable. 

The Knicks were, as Mike Brown said, stuck in the mud on both ends of the floor in a loss to the Sixers. 

They allowed too many points in transition (17 in the second half). They had too many costly turnovers (76ers had 22 points off Knick turnovers). And they didn’t get enough easy baskets on offense (New York’s starters combined for just five assists on 35 percent shooting in the first three quarters). 

There will be plenty for New York to clean up ahead of Friday’s game at Boston — Jalen Brunson believes that some positives can come from the ugly opening night loss.  

“I think it's good for us to, you know, kind of get knocked down off the mountain. Humble ourselves, put our egos in check and see what's gonna happen,” the Knick captain said. 

Brunson has said several times already that the Knicks will learn a lot about themselves in the first few weeks of the season. They will be hunted by new teams with fresh legs. Ten of their first 15 games are against playoff teams. And one of the non-playoff teams they face is an Indiana team with Tyrese Haliburton in the backcourt. 

“I’ve told you guys since Day One. Whatever happens this first couple weeks of the season, it’s going to show who we truly are. So, let's see.”

MELO BULLISH ON KNICKS

Carmelo Anthony knows more than anyone not to make too much of the first game of the season. 

Regardless of what happened on Tuesday, Anthony sees the Knicks as the team to beat in the Eastern Conference. 

“For me, it’s very simple. I think the Knicks are still in the driver’s seat. I think they have an opportunity to really get off to a good start,” Anthony said Monday night at an NBA Tip Off event for American Express. “Especially with the way they played at the end of the season… I think going through what they went through, how they won, will help them [at the start] of the season."

Anthony was at the Garden working Knicks-Sixers for NBC. It was his first time attending a game since New York’s Game 4 win in the Finals. 

Anthony, like the rest of us, was in awe of the Knicks’ comeback and the OG Anunoby tip-in to seal it. 

“That’s probably the greatest moment, to me, in sports, almost. When you really think about it, that moment, the way that the Knicks were down, the way they were losing. Down 20, the fans still in there, it was still a packed house. The way that they just rallied back. And it came down to that OG tipoff,” Anthony said Monday night. “It’s funny how, in Knicks history, you can go from the dark days of missing the tip in to making the tip-in. That’s how the universe works, 53 years later.”

Anthony spent last weekend at an American Express event near the NBA Store in Manhattan. The event took place in a bus that was transformed into a showroom of vintage NBA collectibles. Anthony was on hand to meet and greet cardholders and fans.  

“It was nice to kind of get back to that environment with the fans, up close and personal at the NBA Store,” he said. “Brought me back to my playing days.”

The Los Angeles Lakers begin the post LeBron James era on Wednesday, Oct. 21.

It'll be the first time in eight years that James won't be suiting up at Crypto.com Arena to open the season (not counting the sciatica injury that delayed his 2025 debut). This is now unquestionably Luka Dončić's team. The roster has been re-shaped around him to show for it.

But are they better off?

President of basketball operations Rob Pelinka wasted no time in overhauling the team with the roughly $52 million in cap space created by James' departure in free agency for the Philadelphia 76ers. The first priority was locking in Austin Reaves long-term. They got him on a four-year, $184.8 million contract. The next box to check was acquiring a franchise center; they traded for Walker Kessler.

The third item on the offseason agenda was to sign players who could dribble, pass and shoot. Collin Sexton, Sandro Mamukelashvili, Quentin Grimes and Ziaire Williams and Jaden Hardy check all those boxes.

After spotting Oklahoma City a 21 point halftime lead, De’Aaron Fox and Dylan Harper keyed a Spurs push spanning the third and fourth quarters that fell short under the glare of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s heady bucket getting combined with timely and accurate shooting from his supporting cast.

San Antonio failed to demonstrate what Gregg Popovich would describe as ‘appropriate fear’ over most of a disappionting first half in its season opening loss to Oklahoma City. The tale of the Spurs’ futile first half included 14-for-48 from the field (including 0-for-7 from Victor Wembanyama) and failing to stem the tide of the Thunder’s execution (10-for-14 from three) to go down as much as 26 before finding its footing on both ends in a better second half.

Wembanyama (12 points, 13 rebounds, and 6 blocks) suffered an 0-fer from the field through nearly three quarters, and San Antonio thus needed every bit of its production from Stephon Castle (24 points and 7 rebounds) and De’Aaron Fox (14 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists) to keep pace. Keldon Johnson (10 points and 2 steals) provided some nasty off the bench. Dylan Harper (18 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists) appeared to roll his ankle after scoring the team’s first basket of the fourth quarter, but returned to action moments later.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (32 points, 5 assists, and 2 blocks) led a (mostly) poised Thunder effort, while Chet Holmgren (14 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 blocks) availed himself well after a disappointing conference finals. Jared McCain (20 points) and Alex Caruso (9 points and 7 rebounds) keyed Oklahoma City to its lead in the first period and beyond.

The teams battled with a frenzied pace early on that resembled their late May battles but with far fewer makes. Oklahoma City pieced together a 7-0 run to briefly leap ahead and kept that advantage over the final three periods. The Spurs shook off the rust and shared the ball better from the halfway point on, and seven Spurs scored over the first nine minutes. McCain and Caruso led a surprising three-point shooting barrage that portended future doom – pushing the Thunder out ahead 34-28.

After the fireworks of the first quarter, the teams combined for just three total in the first three minutes of the second. The residual bad blood between the teams came to a boil when Fox fouled Holmgren, and the teams had a baseball-style meeting on the mound in the Thunder frontcourt. San Antonio lost its composure from there and the Thunder took advantage of their mental lapses to soar ahead. While the Spurs saw many shots fail to find their target, the Thunder’s halfcourt and transition execution helped the lead balloon to as much as 26.

The highly-anticipated starting guard group of Fox, Harper, and Castle kickstarted a Spurs run to start the third. Any progress that San Antonio made seemed to be answered either by Jalen Williams or Gilgeous-Alexander. Fox repeatedly charted a path through the Thunder paint to score a handful of needed baskets. While the Spurs were able to close within single digits on several occasions, Gilgeous-Alexander converted some Kobe-like shots to keep distance between Oklahoma City and the Spurs. Wembanyama finally made his first field goal at the quarter-end buzzer, but San Antonio still was down 13.

Observations

• The spotlight lighting on the court (darkened crowd) is wholly appropriate.
• Enough of the national pundits’ predictions for this newborn season! Here are our esteemed PtR writers’ set of predictions! Given that tanking is being more sternly looked at, I see us going 56-26!
• I’m so very happy that Lu Dort took his careening bull-in-a-china shop ways to the other conference.
• Since it’s behind a subscriber paywall, San Antonio made it again to #1 on Zach Lowe’s League Pass Rankings and these nuggets are pretty cool to see: “The defending Western Conference champions offer so much beyond the all-court authority of Victor Wembanyama—starting with the electric, relentless young guard duo of Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper,” “He is almost certainly their best perimeter defender, though Carter Bryant might have something to say about that soon. Being guarded by Castle seems like a nightmare. You can practically feel him through your screen, bumping his poor mark chest-to-chest full court, staying attached at the hip on screens, reaching for every dribble, rising in time with jump shooters,” “Devin Vassell sports one of the league’s silkiest jumpers,” and in conclusion ”The silver-and-black color scheme is unimpeachable, with occasional fiesta nights brightening the scene. The Coyote is a pants-optional riot, his green, coked-out eyes sometimes tilting 90 degrees so they droop vertically over his snout.“
• Gilgeous-Alexander did not fall to the floor on THREE of his first quarter fadeaways. #PROGRESS
• Carter Bryant – a big NOPE in the first period and unsurprisingly sat the rest of the game.
• Sequence of the Game #1: On a first quarter drive, Harper, looking like he was in trouble deep in the paint, found a diving Kornet for a power dunk.
• Sequence of the Game #2: Just like the above sequence, Keldon Johnson soon after rambled down the court before glimpsing Kornet in the paint for a lob dunk.

Game Rundown

With Wembanyama operating from the Dirk spot, he fed Vassell in the deep corner for the first bucket of the campaign. After two Castle bricks, Holmgren and Harper converted physical layups. Fox went to the bench for Champagnie four minutes in – making the Spurs’ lineup noticeably taller. Coach Johnson challenged an early foul whistled on Wembanyama, and it was overturned due to Hartenstein interfering with the action. Wembanyama drew Hartenstein’s second foul midway through the frame, which brought in Adey Mara – the rookie certainly didn’t embarrass himself in his 10+ minutes. Gilgeous-Alexander’s third field goal put the Thunder up two. Two McCain buckets put the Thunder up eight before Fox and the Spurs countered with their own 6-0 run. However, a pair of Caruso triples supplied Oklahoma City a comfortable six point cushion exiting the first.

Both teams found the scoring to be far more difficult in a roughshod and combative second period. Castle was laid out by a Jaylin Williams screen to cause a Thunder turnover. Fox committed a hard foul on Holmgren which caused a commotion between the teams which resulted in THREE different Williams’ confronting Fox and Wembanyama. Fox was assigned a Flagrant 1, while Wembanyama and the three Williams’ were assessed technicals – setting an unofficial NBA surname technical record. A Kenrich Williams three and deflating Jalen Williams breakaway layup put Oklahoma City 46-30. Harrison Barnes 100% made the Spurs’ first basket 4 1/2 minutes into the second. Wembanyama swatted away consecutive Holmgren attempts, but as San Antonio field goal percentage sank below 30%, back-to-back scores from Jalen Williams and Gilgeous-Alexander put the Thunder up 18. Harper’s rebound and putback trimmed the Spur deficit momentarily but were unable to make a run thereafter. Oklahoma City left the first half up 21.

San Antonio’s trio of starting guards – Fox, Harper, and Castle – pieced together an opening 9-0 run to start the second half. Vassell picked up three quick fouls checking Holmgren and Jaylin Williams. Castle’s second three brought the Spurs within ten and woke a muted Frost Bank crowd. Castle saw his third three go down to offset a pair of Jalen Williams’ lay-ins. An action-packed sequence saw Castle lose his shoe on a lay-up and Wembanyama swat away an OKC attempt at the other end and dove to the floor to wrest away a loose ball. Johnson’s and-1 again inched the Spurs within ten. Gilgeous-Alexander’s shotmaking prowess helped keep San Antonio at bay. A Johnson foul on Mara that coincided with a shot-clock violation was reiewed and overturned. Fox’s dribble-drive success made up for Wembanyama’s stunning ineffectiveness. After two missed Wembanyama free throws, Gilgeous-Alexander connected on an and-1 to put the Thunder up 13 after three.

For the Thunder fan’s perspective, please visit Daily Thunder.

San Antonio hosts Kevin Durant and the Houston Rockets on Friday October 23 at 8;30 PM CDT on Prime Video.