The Spurs opened their season with a reminder that talent alone won’t smooth out the rough edges. San Antonio walked into Tuesday night expecting a statement and walked out with a 116-104 loss to the Thunder, a game that left Victor Wembanyama pointing straight at the defensive problems that helped Oklahoma City cruise.
Wembanyama’s own night was a grind. He finished with 12 points on 1-of-13 shooting, though he still managed to impact the game in other ways. He grabbed 13 rebounds and blocked six shots, giving San Antonio something to hold onto in a tough opener.
What bothered him most was what happened around those numbers. Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News reported that Wembanyama cited “bad closeouts” and a lack of communication on defense as the biggest reasons the Spurs got exposed.
“It's like they were playing the right way,” Wembanyama said, according to Orsborn. “I'm sure they were having fun tonight. They were making the extra pass and we weren't making the extra effort.”
That edge from Oklahoma City showed up all night. The Thunder piled up 31 fast break points off 14 Spurs turnovers, and San Antonio never solved the pace or the pressure. The home team shot just 39 percent overall, a rough start for a group that came into the new season with high expectations.
The matchup also carried the weight of the recent past. The Spurs had won four of five regular-season meetings with the Thunder before knocking them out in the Western Conference Finals during the 2025-26 season. But Tuesday belonged to Oklahoma City, which looked sharper and more committed from the opening tip.
Now San Antonio heads to Austin to face the Houston Rockets in the latest edition of the I-35 Series, with Wembanyama looking to turn a bruising opener into a reset.
In Other News...
Wembanyamas Opening Night Struggles Have Spurs Fans Debating One Thing
Victor Wembanyamas start to the 2026-27 season has already sparked plenty of conversation in San Antonio, and his first half against the Oklahoma City Thunder only added fuel to it. Through the opening two quarters, he had eight points without making a field goal, while the Spurs were forced to chase the game as the Thunder controlled the flow and carried an 80-70 lead midway through the third quarter.
For Spurs fans, the bigger issue has been less about one rough stretch than what it says about how the offense is functioning around him. The frustration has been obvious, with concern building over both Wembanyamas performance and the teams approach when the game starts to get away from them, and this matchup is already shaping up as an early test of how quickly San Antonio can settle in around its franchise center. [Read more 🡒]
Spurs Showed Fight Against OKC But One Debate Just Got Louder
The Spurs had the kind of season opener that can leave a team feeling both encouraged and annoyed. They hung around with Oklahoma City through a game that featured multiple lead changes, physical stretches and a handful of defensive plays worth circling, even if the Thunder ultimately pulled away for a 116-104 win. The return of Jalen Williams gave Oklahoma City another layer, while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jared McCain helped steady the visitors when the game tightened.
For San Antonio, the bigger takeaway may be less about the final margin and more about how sharply the matchup sharpened the conversation around Victor Wembanyama. His back-and-forth on the defensive end with Chet Holmgren produced the kind of moments that fuel a rivalry debate, and the altercation involving DeAaron Fox only added to the edge. The Spurs showed they can match intensity, but they also left with one familiar question getting louder after a night when the other side handled the biggest moments better. [Read more 🡒]
Spurs Opening Night Brings Back A Brutal Lesson They Can't Ignore
The Celtics opening-night rally in Detroit served as an ugly reminder of how quickly a big lead can disappear, and that is the sort of lesson the Spurs cannot afford to treat casually as they begin a new season. Boston erased a 22-point deficit and turned what looked like a comfortable opener into one of the most dramatic comebacks in recent memory, a result that inevitably brings back memories around San Antonio of the Finals collapse that still lingers in the background of this teams recent history.
Now the Spurs are moving forward with a new look and a different centerpiece in Victor Wembanyama, with expectations that he can set the tone early and give the group a stronger baseline on both ends. But if opening night in the league proved anything, it is that no advantage is safe for long, and San Antonio has every reason to keep that warning front and center as it tries to build something sturdier this time around. [Read more 🡒]