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SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Oklahoma City didn’t lose sight of its goal even as attention focused squarely on the battle between San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama and fellow rookie Chet Holmgren.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 32 points and 10 assists, and the Thunder overcame Wembanyama’s 24 points and 12 rebounds to beat the Spurs 140-114 on Wednesday night.
Holmgren had 17 points and nine rebounds as Oklahoma City won its fourth straight game. The Thunder remain tied with the Minnesota Timberwolves atop the Western Conference at 31-13.
“All credit to Vic,” Holmgren said. “Obviously a great player, very, very talented, even at an early stage in his career. But I can’t let that confrontation take away from me what my job was tonight, which was trying to win a basketball game. Thunder against Spurs.”
Oklahoma City coach Mark Daigneault attempted to downplay the matchup between two of the leading Rookie of the Year contenders in Wembanyama and Holmgren.
“It’s a team sport, not tennis,” Daigneault said.
But it was hard to ignore a pair of 7-footers with a unique set of skills.
It was especially hard to ignore after Wembanyama said “every game is a statement” after Holmgren won his second straight Rookie of the Month award.
Wembanyama was 9 of 18 from the field, but missed all three of his 3-point attempts. He had four blocks, four assists and a steal in 28 minutes.
“The way he played tonight is the way he tries to play every night,” San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said. “It is not due to any particular individual. He plays hard. He competes. He is learning every day.”
Wembanyama opened the scrimmage with a spin move around Holmgren in the paint for a layup.
France’s No. 1 pick then turned to look at Holmgren after throwing down a one-handed dunk at him with two minutes left in the first half.
“My first goal is always to win,” Wembanyama said. “In a game like this, I don’t think about that, especially in a loss.”
Holmgren’s 3-pointer gave Oklahoma City its largest lead at the time at 103-76 a minute into the fourth quarter. Wembanyama responded on the next possession by intimidating Holmgren for a two-handed dunk and a staredown. Holmgren received an offensive foul for pushing Wembanyama on the next possession.
In the end, Oklahoma City’s balanced attack proved too much for San Antonio.
“At the beginning of the game, their weak side was collapsing like every drive,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “Just random, it wasn’t like a rotation, especially Victor. He would just come in on every run and try to block it. I think they caught us a couple of times early in the game and then once we started not taking the bait and moving it, they spread out and we were able to score layups later in the game.”
Playing the second night of a back-to-back, the Thunder shot 56% from the field and were 18 of 40 on 3-pointers. Six players scored in double figures, including Aaron Wiggins with 22.
“We played well in the first half, but the three-point shots really hurt us,” Popovich said. “And they scored 30 points off of our turnovers. “If you’re not going to shoot threes, you can’t double down by giving up 30 points on turnovers or you’re going to get your (ass) kicked like tonight.”
Devin Vassell scored 21 points for the Spurs. San Antonio made 9 of 32 three-pointers.
Oklahoma City led by 19 points four minutes into the second half. The Thunder made 11 of 22 3-pointers in the first half and the Spurs made 3 of 15.
Spurs second-year guard Blake Wesley made his second career start in place of Tre Jones, who missed the game with a sprained left ankle. Wesley finished with 12 points and six assists.
“We felt (Jones’ absence) a lack of organization at times,” Wembanyama said. “Your experience of him is precious. He could feel especially in the second half and the third quarter that we needed it, but it happens in a season.”
UNTIL NEXT TIME
Thunder: In New Orleans on Friday night.
Spurs: Host Portland on Friday night.
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NBA AP: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
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