The Thunder got the kind of opening-night win that will make noise around the league, but Shai Gilgeous-Alexander wasn’t interested in turning it into a bigger story than it was.
Oklahoma City beat San Antonio 116-104 after waiting five months for the chance to answer the Spurs, the team that knocked them out of the 2026 Western Conference Finals. That alone was enough to send the hype machine into overdrive. The Ringer’s Bill Simmons went so far as to call the Thunder “the team to beat,” and Oklahoma City now sits alone as the league’s top title favorite.
Gilgeous-Alexander pushed right back on that kind of talk.
Asked about getting the better of the Thunder’s emerging rival to start the season, he brushed it aside with, "This game doesn't really mean that much," and made the point that it was still just the first night of a long year.
That’s the part people can forget when the spotlight hits. The NBA grind is 82 games long, and a team chasing a title has to survive at least 16 more after that.
One win over the same opponent that ended a title-repeat bid is satisfying, sure. But there are still 81 games left.
As SGA said after the game, OKC is just "trying to get better" every day. The next test comes quickly enough, with Thursday’s matchup against the Nuggets already looming.
For all the attention on the Thunder’s revenge win, another storyline is hanging over the roster: Jalen Williams still hasn’t found his shot.
Williams has been dealing with the aftereffects of surgery to repair a torn scapholunate ligament in his right wrist two summers ago, and the shooting numbers since then have told the story. In 33 games last season, he shot 37.3 percent from mid-range and 29.9 percent from deep.
One game into the 2026-27 season, there wasn’t much to suggest a quick fix. Against the Spurs, Williams hit just 25.0 percent from the mid-range and passed up perimeter looks during his 30 minutes on the floor.
That’s a sharp drop from the version of Williams who was thriving before the surgery, when he posted .513/.382/.803 shooting splits. The talent is still there.
The touch is still in the bag. He just hasn’t shaken the rust yet, and after an injury-hit 2025-26 season, it may take some more time before that groove comes back.
In Other News...
Spurs Thunder Tension Boils Over On Opening Night
Opening night got chippy in a hurry for Oklahoma City, with the second quarter turning into a full-tilt confrontation between the Thunder and Spurs. It started when De'Aaron Fox shoved Chet Holmgren to the floor, and what followed drew in multiple players, including Victor Wembanyama and several members of the Williams family on the Thunder side, as the officials worked to separate everyone and restore order.
The sequence left both teams waiting on the whistle before play could settle back in, and the officiating crew wound up sorting through a messy scene with a flagrant foul and a handful of technicals. For a Thunder team trying to set the tone early in the season, the dustup added another layer of edge to a matchup that was already carrying plenty of opening-night energy. [Read more 🡒]
Aday Mara Just Gave Thunder Fans A First Real Reason To Believe
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Midway through the third quarter, with Oklahoma City already in control, Mara helped deliver one of the nights best sequences. He swatted Victor Wembanyama near the rim, then turned around and finished an alley-oop from Ajay Mitchell, a burst of rim protection and finishing touch that gave Thunder fans a real glimpse of why the organization is so intrigued by him. [Read more 🡒]
Chet Holmgren Sparks Early Thunder Spurs Tension On Opening Night
Opening night between the Thunder and Spurs took a sharp turn when Chet Holmgren found himself on the floor after a hard sequence involving DeAaron Fox, and both benches quickly emptied in response. What had been an early-season showcase between two teams with plenty of buzz became a chippy, physical scene in a hurry, with the officials moving in to calm things down before play could continue.
Once order was restored, the game resumed with San Antonio still chasing Oklahoma City in the second quarter. The incident added an edge to a matchup already rich with intrigue, especially with Victor Wembanyama on the floor and the Thunders young core right in the middle of the fray, a reminder that this rivalry may not need much time to boil over again. [Read more 🡒]