Gilgeous-Alexander's 28 points, career-best 7 steals help Thunder dominate Spurs 123-87

By CLIFF BRUNT

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 28 points and a career-high seven steals, and the Oklahoma City Thunder rolled past the San Antonio Spurs 123-87 on Tuesday night in the In-Season Tournament.

The game featured two of the league’s top rookies - San Antonio’s 7-foot-3 Victor Wembanyama and Oklahoma City’s 7-1 Chet Holmgren. Wembanyama finished with eight points on 4-for-15 shooting. He grabbed 14 rebounds and blocked two shots. Holmgren had nine points on 3-for-10 shooting with seven rebounds and three assists.

Josh Giddey added 18 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for the Thunder, who earned their first In-Season Tournament win in three tries and improved to 7-4 overall. Oklahoma City set a Thunder record with 19 steals.

Zach Collins and Julian Champagnie had 13 points apiece for San Antonio. The Spurs lost their sixth straight and fell to 3-8 overall and 0-2 in the tournament.

Forward Kenrich Williams, who had not played this season due to back spasms, returned to give the Thunder a boost. He hit his first shot – a 3-pointer – early in the second quarter. He then stole the ball from Wembanyama, leading to a fast-break dunk by Cason Wallace that gave Oklahoma City a 33-28 lead.

Williams later threw down an alley-oop dunk on a lob from Wallace to put Oklahoma City up 39-33. Williams finished with nine points in 15 minutes.

As the first half drew to a close, the Spurs tried to throw a lob to Wembanyama in the post. The Thunder tipped it away and went on a fast break. Giddey faked a behind-the-back pass to his right, then threw the ball over his left shoulder to Holmgren, whose two-handed jam with 2.2 seconds left in the first half gave the Thunder a 58-48 lead at the break. Wembanyama had eight points on 4-for-11 shooting in the first half while Holmgren had five points, three rebounds and two assists.

Holmgren's baseline dunk in the third quarter put the Thunder up 68-50, then Giddey's layup put the Thunder up by 20 and forced a Spurs timeout. Oklahoma City's largest lead was 40 points in the fourth quarter.

UP NEXT

Spurs: Host Sacramento on Friday.

Thunder: At Golden State on Thursday.

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