OKLAHOMA CITY — Going up for a desperate alley-oop attempt to spark some energy, Victor Wembanyama didn’t even feel the ball on his fingertips. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was right behind him on the weak side. He leaped off the floor to deny the connection with an empathetic rejection.
The Oklahoma City Thunder got their confidence back in a 119-98 win over the San Antonio Spurs. After three consecutive losses to them to start the season, they had their get-back with a second-half takeover.
Likely circling this game on Christmas Night, the Thunder came out with a different type of energy. They were the aggressors first. Jalen Williams had a couple of driving layups despite Wembanyama’s presence. Several OKC defenders swarmed Keldon Johnson on the final possession. Gilgeous-Alexander ran to the corner to force the miss on a closeout against Lindy Waters III.
The Thunder had a 32-26 lead over the Spurs after the first quarter. The second frame saw San Antonio make its own adjustments. You saw Wembanyama go at Chet Holmgren for three straight possessions. A game within a game. This time, though, the latter won that chess match.
Both teams picked up the pace, which meant some erradic misses. The Thunder only had 23 points in the second frame. They held a small 55-52 lead over the Spurs at the halftime break. It was one of those leads where it felt like maybe it should’ve been more. If you’re OKC, you hope it didn’t come back to bite you.
Let’s just say that didn’t happen. It didn’t take the Thunder long to add to their lead. After Harrison Barnes couldn’t connect on a corner attempt, Williams ran the transition for an easy layup. Suddenly, OKC had a 70-62 lead. Some breathing room in the opening moments of the third frame.
That preluded an unreal 25-8 run by the Thunder. A signature OKC avalanche run where they usually deliver a knockout punch to the opponent. The Spurs were flustered. In a hostile environment where the home crowd brought playoff-esque energy, they looked rattled.
Gilgeous-Alexander found Jaylin Williams for a corner 3-pointer. The Thunder suddenly had an 80-69 lead with five minutes left in the third frame. On the other end, Kenrich Williams went one-on-one against Wembanyama. To the point that the latter’s jersey was untucked. Even though it was called a foul, it’s the type of in-your-face defense OKC has missed the other times it’s faced San Antonio.
The Thunder were no longer afraid of Wembanyama. They went directly at him inside the paint. No longer did he look like OKC’s Boogeyman. Instead, the reigning NBA champions flipped the lights on and remembered who they were. Even Williams was feeling himself as he scored a turnaround jumper on the seven-footer.
The Thunder scored 40 points in the third quarter. They suddenly ballooned their lead up to 95-76 over the Spurs. It’s been a while since you’ve seen OKC dominate a frame like that against a marquee matchup. But they reminded folks why they were one of the best teams in the league last season.
The fourth quarter turned into a 12-minute-long celebration. You can sense in the air the type of built-up frustrations OKC fans have felt over the Spurs. Like Gilgeous-Alexander has mentioned several times, this was really the first time the same team has handed them three straight losses since their ascension.
Gilgeous-Alexander and Stephon Castle got into it. A small altercation resulted in double technical fouls — something you rarely see with the former. Wembanyama went from an A-tier villain to a D-list one as he had to resort to unethical practices like flopping and selling contact. The Thunder scored 24 points in the final frame.
The Thunder shot 52% from the field and went 11-of-30 (36.7%) from 3. They shot 24-of-27 on free throws. They also had 26 assists on 42 baskets. Five Thunder players scored double-digit points.
Gilgeous-Alexander led the way with 34 points and five assists. Williams finished with an efficient 20 points and three assists. Alex Caruso had 13 points and four assists off the bench. Williams had 11 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. Ajay Mitchell tallied 11 points and six rebounds.
Meanwhile, the Spurs shot 40% from the field and went 13-of-37 (35.1%) from 3. They shot 17-of-24 on free throws. They had 21 assists on 34 baskets. Five Spurs players scored double-digit points.
Wembanyama struggled with 17 points and seven rebounds. Castle had 20 points, eight assists and seven rebounds. De’Aaron Fox had 14 points and five assists. Julian Champagnie totaled 13 points and six rebounds. Dylan Harper scored 12 points off the bench.
Major win for the Thunder. They haven’t looked themselves in their previous three dates with the Spurs. So this was the first time that’s been different for the better. Gilgeous-Alexander set things up with an efficient 30-plus points. OKC’s supporting cast stepped up massively.
Even though this was just one regular-season contest, this gotta feel good for the Thunder. The nonstop talk over the last month that the Spurs have their number must’ve been difficult to avoid. So, to finally get a tangible result that shows they can one-up them on both ends is the latest positive trend to the momentum OKC has built over the last week.
Let’s look at Thunder player grades:
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: A-plus
Relocating to the perimeter, Gilgeous-Alexander received Mitchell’s kick-out pass. He immediately went for the outside pull-up jumper that swished in. The reigning MVP did his patented celebration and then yelled a few expletives towards Castle’s way.
Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 34 points on 11-of-23 shooting, five assists and five rebounds. He shot 1-of-4 from 3 and went 11-of-13 on free throws. He also had four blocks.
Understanding the stakes, Gilgeous-Alexander stepped up and turned in a performance that should help his odds to be the second-ever unanimous MVP winner. No team-friendly approach in this one. He went for blood from the jump. The jumper was there all night. So were the drives to the basket.
Castle might be better equipped than most to slow down the NBA’s best scorer. But that’s all he can do — slow him down. Not stop. Gilgeous-Alexander had 13 points out of the gate in the first quarter. As the Thunder slammed the door in the third quarter, he led the way with 15 points.
Defensively, Gilgeous-Alexander more than carried his weight on that side of the ball. The block numbers jump out, but the rotations were crisp. The closeouts were textbook. The communication was loud. Nobody will confuse him for an all-world defender and occasionally, he has bad habits, but he turns it up a few levels for these primetime matchups.
The pull-up jumper is what turned Gilgeous-Alexander into a perennial MVP candidate. That’s what he went with to bury the Spurs in the second half. When he gets it going like that, nobody else in the NBA can match his peak. Everybody else did their job, but he was at the front of the line.
Got the bucket + 1️⃣
Vote Shai 💫 https://t.co/0HE3nd0kPxpic.twitter.com/GCKYj5ishD
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) January 14, 2026
In shock at the block and in awe at the Shai finish 😮💨
Vote Thunder ⭐️ https://t.co/0HE3nd0kPxpic.twitter.com/vapal8i7zq
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) January 14, 2026
Shai’s got bunnies 🐰
Vote 2 🗳️ https://t.co/0HE3nd0kPxpic.twitter.com/jgGNVHgNKw
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) January 14, 2026
Jalen Williams: A
As if he had eyes in the back of his head, Williams read Castle’s next move like a picture book. He leaped up to disrupt his intended pass for Wembanyama. The backhanded deflection created another turnover. He sprinted down the court for a transition jam.
Williams finished with 20 points on 9-of-15 shooting and three assists. He shot 2-of-2 on free throws. He also had two steals.
One of the trends you saw from OKC’s three losses to the Spurs was a lack of help. Fair or not, at the forefront of that was Williams. The Thunder need him to be an All-NBA player to turn into a win machine. If not, that leaves the door open for vulnerability. This game was easily the best of the quartet, where Gilgeous-Alexander’s teammates helped carry the weight.
Not fearing what might happen, Williams went headfirst at Wembanyama on several drives to the basket. He helped break down larger-than-life mythos. For the first time all season, the seven-footer didn’t linger in the back of every OKC player’s mind. The 24-year-old helped him look human.
You saw Williams abandon his jumper. He flung it out of his car. Instead, he was a drive-only scorer. He put up 10 points in the third frame because of that. Alongside stellar defense, his buckets in the paint put this one away within a couple of blinks of the eye.
What Williams did here is easily replicable for the rest of the way. The last handful of games have seen him inch closer to being an All-Star-level impactful player. Let’s see if he can keep the ball rolling as they enter a tough stretch of the schedule against some of the upper-echelon teams.
2️⃣ + 8️⃣
That play gets a 🔟 from us 🫡
Vote Thunder 🗳️ https://t.co/0HE3nd0kPxpic.twitter.com/psGu9CVjGO
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) January 14, 2026
Powered through in the paint 😤 pic.twitter.com/g24AYiRuzE
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) January 14, 2026
Our ears are still ringing inside @PaycomCenter after this one 🫨
Vote JDub ⭐️ https://t.co/0HE3nd0kPxpic.twitter.com/IBAON64E3u
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) January 14, 2026
Chet Holmgren: B
Taking on Wembanyama one-on-one, Holmgren stayed with him step-for-step. The former tried to create separation on the drive with a couple of gallop steps. That didn’t fool the latter. He easily blocked his layup attempt to add to OKC’s chaos.
Holmgren finished with eight points on 1-of-4 shooting and 10 rebounds. He shot 0-of-2 from 3 and went 6-of-6 on free throws. He also had three blocks.
The offensive production wasn’t where it usually is. Holmgren has been a steady 15-plus points all season. That leap is one of the reasons why he has a strong chance to be a first-time All-Star player. But the defense — phew, that remained at an elite level. Put this gametape in his DPOY resume.
The Spurs sliced through OKC’s league-best defense the first three times. The Fox-Castle-Harper backcourt triumvirate made the Thunder defenders look a couple of steps slow. They had circus finishes through Holmgren. It was too easy for them in the paint.
Not this time, though. Holmgren stayed in position. He hovered the paint. Anytime a Spurs player tried to go at him, the results were mixed. Even Wembanyama wasn’t able to go at him and use his unprecedented length to get some easy looks around the rim.
The Holmgren-Wembanyama rivalry is here to stay. Anytime these two teams square off, expect it to be one of the headlines. That’s out of Holmgren’s control. What is in his control is how he plays. He pitched a perfect game on both ends of the floor. He didn’t let this devolve into an egotistical one-on-one thing. He also had his best defensive outing against a San Antonio squad that made him look worse than the All-NBA caliber player he is.
Jaylin Williams: A
Backpedaling to the corner, Williams was left wide open. Putting all of their attention on Gilgeous-Alexander has been a defensive strategy that has previously worked out for San Antonio. Wasn’t the case tonight, though. The bench player splashed the outside make and yelled at the crowd in celebration.
Williams finished with 11 points on 4-of-10 shooting, 10 rebounds and five assists. He shot 2-of-7 from 3 and went 1-of-2 on free throws. He also had two blocks.
Game-changer. The Thunder bench checked in and completely caused havoc. Williams helped fix some of the rebounding woes. He also helped the second unit run a lot smoothly. That’s something that was missed from the first three games against the Spurs.
Throwing a curveball, Williams had a handful of defensive possessions on Wembanyama. It’s too early to say anything conclusive, but perhaps physical wing defenders could be the seven-footer’s Kryptonite. Kenrich Williams also had similar success at just getting physical with him.
Show out then, JWill‼️ pic.twitter.com/RufY1enjuY
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) January 14, 2026
Alex Caruso: A
Receiving the ball at the left-wing spot, Caruso drove straight to the basket. Even with Wembanyama within striking distance, the 31-year-old bumped into him and scored the finger-roll layup. By then, the San Antonio superstar had lost all of his freightfullness.
Caruso finished with 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting, four assists and two rebounds. He also shot 2-of-4 from 3 and went 1-of-1 on free throws. He also had a steal.
Adding onto OKC’s rich bench performance, the Thunder dominated the Spurs in the minutes that Caruso was on. He added onto their vintage third-quarter run where they suffocated San Antonio’s halfcourt offense. Not at the same volume as on Christmas, but when he matched up with Wembanyama, the results were mostly positive.
A lot of this anticipated showdown had to do with how OKC’s role players would perform. Of their four games against the Spurs, this was easily the best in that department. Caruso’s cold Christmas exemplified how bad that afternoon was. But he showed why San Antonio’s risky plan to leave him open can easily backfire.
Highlights:
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Player grades: Thunder finally get one in 119-98 win over Spurs
