San Antonio Spurs vs Oklahoma City Thunder live updates, score: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander making plays early in close game

The Oklahoma City Thunder believe that if they had been healthy in the Western Conference Finals, they would have been back in the NBA Finals.

Game 1 of the 2026-27 season made that look true.

Behind an elite defense and 32 points from reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Thunder comfortably beat the Spurs 116-104 in San Antonio.

OKC won the game in the second quarter, when they outscored the Spurs 31-16, in part because the Thunder were 5-of-8 from 3 in the frame.

Victor Wembanyama struggled on offense, missing 12 straight shots at one point, finishing 1-of-13 from the floor with 12 points. He did have 13 points and 6 blocks — he was brilliant defensively — but the Spurs needed more offense. Stephon Castle had 24 points and Dylan Harper 18.

Jared McCain knocked down six 3-pointers and finished with 20.

When the Thunder need to make a play, they have just done it all night.

Thunder up 112-100 with 1:14 left in the game.

Victor Wembanyama has looked every bit the Defensive Player of the Year. He’s also shot 1-of-13 from the floor for the game.

The Spurs will need more offense from him down the stretch if the Spurs are going to close down the Thunders’ 102-94 lead in the final 5:05 of the game.

The Thunder bench has been critical: Jared McCain has 17 points and is +20, Alex Caruso is +12, Ajay Mitchell is +12, and Aday Mara is +9.

Behind them, the Thunder lead 102-90 midway through the fourth quarter. It also helps that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has scored 30.

De’Aaron Fox came out in the third quarter and started getting downhill — he shot 4-of-4 from the floor, with all his buckets in the paint. Fox scored 10 points; the Spurs shot 63.3% in the third quarter, and they trimmed the Thunder’s 21-point halftime lead to 13, 93-80.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander keeps making plays and has 28 points. Victor Wembanyama has just one bucket — 1-of-13 from the floor — and has 12 points for the game.

Didn’t have this on my opening night bingo card.

San Antonio has found its offense in the second half, shooting 5-of-6 from the floor and drawing fouls, to tighten up the game.

There was a time when 20-point leads meant something in the NBA. Not anymore. Just ask the Celtics.

San Antonio came out in the second half on a 6-0 run, cutting the OKC lead to 61-50.

It’s easy to say the Thunder lead by 21 points at halftime against the Spurs because they are hot, shooting 10-of-14 from 3-point range. But that sells it short. They are moving the ball, with 17 assists on 24 made baskets. And the team with the best defense in the NBA last season held the Spurs to 29.2% shooting in the first half.

Add it all together, and the Thunder look dominant and lead 65-44 at the half.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander leads the way with 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting.

Chet Holmgren has 10 points, and Jared McCain has 11 off the bench for the Thunder, including three 3-pointers.

No Spurs scored in double figures. Victor Wembanyama and Julian Champagnie each have 8.

People forget that the Thunder had far and away the best defense in the NBA last season. It’s back and the Spurs are learning the hard way.

San Antonio is shooting 29.3% from the floor, 4-of-16 from 3, and trail 51-33 with 4:45 left in the first half.

It may be the first game of the season, but tensions are high between the Thunder and Spurs.

Chet Holmgren had the mismatch inside on De’Aaron Fox and before the Thunder could enter the ball Fox threw Holmgren to the ground. After that, everybody else on the floor came together with plenty of pushing.

After it was all finished, Fox was given a Flagrant 1 foul, which was appropriate.

Four players got technical fouls: Victor Wembanyama (Spurs), plus Jalen Williams, Jaylin Williams and Kenrich Williams (Thunder). You read that right, the Thunder had three Williamses on the court and all of them got technicals.

It’s 46-33 Thunder midway through the second quarter.

Oklahoma City couldn’t seem to miss, shooting 5-of-6 from 3-point range — with Alex Caruso and Jared McCain each shooting 2-of-2 from deep off the bench — as the Thunder lead 34-28 after one quarter.

San Antonio was 3-of-11 from 3 in the first. Stephon Castle leads the way with 5 points for San Antonio.

This is what the Thunder need this season — Chet Holmgren to be aggressive and go right at Victor Wembanyama.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has 7 points, Jared McCain has a fast five off the bench and the Thunder lead 23-21 with 3:15 left in the first quarter.

Not surprisingly, the defenses are winning early. Oklahoma City started the game 3-of-8 from the floor, the San Antonio started 3-of-9.

These are two of the league’s best defensive teams from a season ago — the Thunder had the best defense by a mile, the Spurs were led by unanimous Defensive Player of the Year Victor Wembanyama — plus defenses are always ahead of offense at the start of the season.

It’s 9-8 Thunder with 7:20 left in the first.

The game has started — with Victor Wembanyama winning the tip. Shockingly. Then we got a Devin Vassell 3

You can watch the start on Peacock or NBCSN. It will move to NBC once the Philadelphia at New York game ends.

Because of the length of the Knicks ring ceremony and celebration, plus the 76ers at Knicks game running a little long, the start time for Oklahoma City at San Antonio has been pushed back a little.

Thunder vs. Spurs will tip-off at 9:50 Eastern, 8:50 Central time in San Antonio. If the 76ers/Knicks game is not over (and it’s not going to be), the game will start exclusively on Peacock at NBCSN. The broadcast will jump to NBC (and stay on Peacock) at the conclusion of the game in New York.

Chet Holmgren likes things bright. Jared McCain wore gloves so we can’t talk about his nails. Check out the Oklahoma City Thunder’s pregame fits.

Put on NBC, check out the game call from Noah Eagle, Grant Hill, and Ashley ShahAhmadi, and you will have a great nightcap to NBA Opening Day.

But if you want more, how about an alternate broadcast view that gives real-time overlays showing player stats, heat maps, shooting streaks and star ratings and more so fans — casual and die-hard alike — can follow the game in more depth, have we got the thing for you.

Head over to Peacock and check out the Performance View.

It’s one of several cool features on Peacock this season. Head over to Peacock and check it out.

One of the best parts of the San Antonio Spurs vs. Oklahoma City Thunder rivalry is that the stars are leaning into it. Victor Wembanyama absolutely is, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander wasn’t shying away from it when talking to NBC Sports’ Zora Stephenson.

The teams play each other only three times this regular season, and one is tonight. On opening night.

Victor Wembanyama is looking sharp, casually strolling into the Frost Bank Center for the season opener.

For one half in Detroit Tuesday afternoon, it looked like the best free agent addition of the offseason was Boston landing Paul George — and he scored 38 in his Celtics debut. George scored 17 points on 5-of-9 shooting in the first half and finished with 38 points. Boston built a 22-point lead with eight minutes left in the third quarter.

However, in the second half, Javonte Green came in off the bench and caught fire, and that proved contagious as suddenly Duncan Robinson couldn’t miss — both shot 5-of-10 from beyond the arc — and the Pistons went on a 23-0 fourth-quarter run to take the lead. Detroit held on to win 121-113 at home in the season opener.

“We started defending,” Pistons head coach JB Bickerstaff told Shawn Robinson of NBC Sports. “Offensively, we had some guys make some shots, but the movement was there. We were sharing the ball at a high level, finding our guys who were hot. But again, it always starts with our defense. Like you saw, guys diving on the floor, coming up with those loose balls. When we outwork you, we’re going to be hard to beat.”

Detroit had balanced scoring with Jalen Duren and Cade Cunningham each scoring 22, Duncan Robinson scoring 21, and Green with 19. Boston got a big night from George, but Jayson Tatum struggled, shooting 6-of-23 for 13 points. Derick White and Peyton Pritchard each scored 17.

For more details, check out the NBC Sports story from inside Little Caesars Arena.

Check out the latest odds of this showdown as of Tuesday courtesy of DraftKings:

Moneyline: Oklahoma City Thunder (-105), San Antonio Spurs (-115)
Spread: Spurs -1.5
Total: 230.5 points

NBC Sports betting analyst Drew Dinsick likes the Thunder to edge out the Spurs tonight (he got in early and got the Thunder at +2.5).

For more betting information and game trends, just follow this link to the NBC Sports update.

We want you to follow along with the action here, too, but here is how to watch Thunder vs. Spurs, or stream on Peacock.

When: Tonight, Tuesday, October 20
Time: 9:30 PM ET
Where: Frost Bank Center, San Antonio, TX
TV: NBC
Live Stream: Peacock

You can see the full schedule of 2026-27 NBA games airing on NBC, Peacock, NBCSN, and Telemundo here.