Central Plains FFA Chapter

10/20 23:36 CDT Gilgeous-Alexander, Thunder roll past Spurs 116-104 in first matchup since conference finals defeat Gilgeous-Alexander, Thunder roll past Spurs 116-104 in first matchup since conference finals defeat By RAUL DOMINGUEZ Associated Press SAN ANTONIO (AP) --- 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.

Up next Thunder: Host Denver on Thursday night. Spurs: Host Houston in Austin on Friday night. ___ See AP's full NBA coverage here