The Oklahoma City Thunder had heard enough.
Following a 24-1 start in OKC, the Spurs had exposed the Thunder as vulnerable. They beat the Thunder on Christmas for a third time in a span of two weeks to drop Oklahoma City to 26-5 with their fourth loss in six games.
The mystique was completely stripped from the Thunder in a blowout loss at home to the Hornets on Jan. 5, and the narrative had shifted to what’s wrong with the Thunder ahead of Tuesday’s game against the Spurs in their fourth matchup of the season.
The Thunder would like their narrative back.
Buoyed by an electric home crowd that’s also certainly heard the noise, the Thunder cruised to a 119-98 win over the Spurs Tuesday night.
Victor Wembanyama attempted to set the tone with two dunks over personal rival Chet Holmgren in the game’s opening minutes. The Thunder responded to take a 32-23 lead that the Spurs cut to 55-52 at halftime.
But the Thunder opened the floodgates with a 40-24 edge in the third quarter that they extended to a 102-80 lead in the fourth. With Shai Gilgeous-Alexander resting in the fourth, the Spurs cut into the lead, But they never challenged again as the Thunder issued their best reminder since their slump started that they’re the reigning champs for a reason.
Oklahoma City won playing its style of basketball — with swarming defense that flustered San Antonio shooters and limited the Spurs to an 40% shooting night from the field. The Thunder repeatedly challenged shots en route to a season-high 12 blocks that frequently led to easy buckets near the basket on the other end.
The result was a 52% shooting night for the Thunder as they improved to 34-7 on the season — not bad for a team with the sky supposedly falling around it. And it’s now good enough for a 6.5-game lead over the second-place Spurs in the West.
SGA: ‘Tonight wasn’t our Super Bowl’
In a postgame interview, Gilgeous-Alexander acknowledged that the Spurs previously flustered their trademark defense and had “gotten the better of us,” but downplayed the importance of Tuesday’s win.
“Tonight wasn’t our Super Bowl,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “It wasn’t anything else but another game in an 82-game season. We’ve got to find ways to get better. We could have done things better tonight and will continue to do so and learn from them.”
Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder effort with 34 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and a team-high 4 blocks. It was the type of effort that will help in his quest for a second straight league MVP award. Jalen Williams added 20 points on a 9 of 15 effort from the field as he continues to round into his former All-Star form after a wrist injury sidelined him for the start of the season.
Holmgren struggled on offense in his matchup against Wembanyama as he attempted just four field goals in an 8-point effort. But he contributed elsewhere with 10 rebounds and 3 blocks.
Wembanyama was back in the starting lineup for a second straight night after coming off the bench in his return from knee and calf injuries. He made an apparent concerted effort to attack Holmgren on offense early in the game.
But the Thunder held him in relative check as Wembanyama tallied 17 points, 7 rebounds and 1 block. Stephon Castle led the Spurs with 20 points and 8 assists, but he also contributed 5 of San Antonio’s 11 turnovers on the night.
The Spurs and Thunder have one game remaining on the schedule in San Antonio on Feb. 4. And if the NBA is lucky, they’ll play at least four more games in the postseason.
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