Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's Two-Way Presence, Josh Giddey's Playmaking Leads Thunder to a 123-87 Win over San Antonio
In the Thunder's third contest of the NBA In-Season Tournament, Oklahoma City claimed a 123-87 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday night.
All eyes were on the matchup of the 7-foot-plus rookies in Chet Holmgren and Victor Wembanyama throughout the evening — as expected in what could unfold as a true rivalry in the coming years.
"I'm not worried about the next 15 years, I'm worried about helping the Thunder try to beat the Spurs tonight," Holmgren said pregame of the sprouting rivalry.
Holmgren displayed that sentiment on Tuesday night — and while it wasn't his most impressive outing — he continued to play to his strengths without many unforced errors as the rookie's done so well at to begin the season.
He'd end the contest with nine points on 3-of-10 shooting and seven rebounds. Wembanyama would post eight points on 4-of-15 shooting with 14 rebounds of his own, but tallied four turnovers.
It was Shai Gilgeous-Alexander who'd steal the limelight from the 7-footers though, cultivating his own highlight plays off the dribble to score 28 points on 10-of-16 shooting, going 7-for-7 from the charity stripe.
Although, he may've been just as good defensively, as he was very disruptive along the perimeter and registered seven steals.
Josh Giddey also impressed following a quiet start to the season for the playmaking guard, scoring 18 points but notably provided a great facilitating presence to garner seven assists.
Isaiah Joe added his 3-point presence off the bench again, hitting two times on three attempts from deep to tally eight total points.
Jalen Williams' offensive production started early, having nine points of his final 11 come in the first quarter. He also had three assists by the end of the night.
Overall, It was a fairly balanced opening frame between the two teams with the largest lead only spanning four points from the Spurs.
But Williams and Gilgeous-Alexander were Oklahoma City's bright spots offensively, as the pair combined for 19 points on 12 shots in the quarter.
Kenrich Williams made his season debut in the closing seconds of the first, and would eventually post nine points on the night. To begin the second, he was tasked with the assignment of the 7-foot-4 Wembanyama.
Williams immediately made an impact on both ends despite the size given up, remaining very active defensively while also adding a three and an alley-oop dunk early in the quarter. He'd add to the lengthy steal column the Thunder built in the first half too, contributing one to the team's initial seven.
Oklahoma City would construct a lead early in the quarter before relinquishing it. But in the final 2:47 of the half, the Thunder would post a 13-0 run thanks to pressuring defense and multiple steals, entering the third quarter up by 10.
Giddey played an impactful role in the lead at the half, providing eight points on 50% shooting while distributing efficiently for five assists.
The Thunder would open the third quarter still on a defensive roll, as Gilgeous-Alexander racked up his steal total to six in the half's opening minutes.
It'd expand to a 20-point lead just under four minutes into the frame through a Giddey dump-off to Holmgren for a slam, and a subsequent Giddey layup forcing Gregg Popovich to call timeout and adjust.
But the Spurs found themselves into a bigger hole, with Gilgeous-Alexander persistently finding his spots on the floor and making shots at a high clip.
The Thunder would extend its lead to as high as 28 points, but would find the score 91-66 by the end of the third.
It would ultimately be too much for San Antonio to overcome in the final frame, and Oklahoma City would claim its seventh win on the season and first victory in the in-season tournament.
The Thunder will next travel to Golden State to take on the Warriors for the second time this season at 9 p.m. on Thursday.
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