Story perspectives

Thunder Beat Spurs 116-104 in Season Opener

By Drooid · Oct 22, 2026, 10:55 PM UTC · How we work

Summary

Thunder Defeat Spurs

Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the San Antonio Spurs 116-104 in the season opener.
Victor Wembanyama scored 12 points on 1-of-13 shooting, an 8% field-goal rate, his career-worst.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led Oklahoma City with 32 points.
Carmelo Anthony asked if Wembanyama improved his post-up skills during the offseason.
Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said the entire team, not just Wembanyama, struggled.

Summary

Spurs Trio Sparks

The Spurs' three-guard trio of Harper, Castle and Fox ignited a 23-9 run, scoring all 23 points.
Coach Mitch Johnson kept the trio together for only about 12 minutes before splitting them to improve spacing.
The Spurs shot 10-for-37 from three, with Castle making five of those attempts.
Harper delivered a full-court pass to Castle that led to a notable play during the run.

Summary

Wembanyama Praises Fans

The writer says he loves Victor Wembanyama despite a poor shooting night.
He jokes that North Americans favored Dolph Lundgren in Rocky IV more than Wembanyama favored Chet Holmgren.
He calls the Oklahoma City Thunder the “Oklahoma City Soviets” in a tongue-in-cheek Rocky IV reference.
He argues the Seattle Supersonics should never have relocated from Seattle.
He says the Soviets win a round in Rocky IV and uses that as a game metaphor.

History

Historical Context

After Howard Schultz sold the Seattle SuperSonics for $350 million in 2006, Clay Bennett’s Oklahoma City group broke the KeyArena lease with a $45 million settlement and secured a 15-year, $120 million arena upgrade approved in March 2008. The franchise moved on July 2 2008, rebranding as the Thunder, whose inaugural season sold out 100 % of seats, a trend echoed in today’s 116-104 win over the Spurs.

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Thunder Defeat Spurs

Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the San Antonio Spurs 116-104 in the season opener.
Victor Wembanyama scored 12 points on 1-of-13 shooting, an 8% field-goal rate, his career-worst.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led Oklahoma City with 32 points.
Carmelo Anthony asked if Wembanyama improved his post-up skills during the offseason.
Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said the entire team, not just Wembanyama, struggled.

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