Shai Gilgeous-Alexander after 32 in the Spurs rematch: ‘This group’s hungry,’ but the win ‘doesn’t prove anything’

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 32 points on Tuesday as the Oklahoma City Thunder opened the season with a 116-104 win at San Antonio, their first game against the Spurs since losing Game 7 of the Western Conference finals to them in May. Afterward, he did not want to make much of it.

“Obviously this is the team that eliminated us from achieving our goal,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “But for us, I think it was more, we’re just happy to be back. NBA’s back. It’s a longer summer when you don’t win, and we felt that this summer.”

“One of 82. This doesn’t prove anything, this doesn’t mean anything, besides the fact that we won tonight,” he said. “We took a step in the right direction, and we’ve got to do it 81 more times and be ready for the playoffs if we get a chance to make it.”

The video above was posted by the Thunder.

‘This group’s hungry’

Asked what excited him about this year’s team, the two-time reigning MVP said this team wants it more than past Thunder groups. “This group’s hungry. This group wants more. This group’s not satisfied, and a little bit more so than in the past,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “I can feel it. We feel it in the building, we feel it in the facility. We want more. We want to get better every day.”

The Spurs beat Oklahoma City 111-103 in Game 7 on May 30, in Oklahoma City, and went on to the NBA Finals, where they lost to the Knicks in five games. The Thunder had won the 2025 title, and Gilgeous-Alexander won his second straight MVP award last May with 83 of 100 first-place votes.

He made 13 of 27 shots, including 3 of 7 from three, and added six rebounds, four assists, three steals and three blocks in 36 minutes. Asked how he found his rhythm so quickly, he kept it simple. “This is the game I love. I work hard in the summertime. I come out here and trust my work. It’s that simple. It’s not more complicated than that,” he said. “I come out here with the utmost confidence because of how hard I work, and I trust it every night, and it’s been working for me lately.”

How the Thunder won it

Oklahoma City led for all but the first five minutes. Early in the second quarter De’Aaron Fox was called for a flagrant foul for throwing Chet Holmgren to the floor, and the scrum that followed ended with technical fouls for Victor Wembanyama and three Thunder players named Williams: Jalen Williams, Jaylin and Kenrich. The Thunder scored the next nine points and later 13 in a row, outscored San Antonio 31-16 in the quarter and led 65-44 at halftime. Their lead reached 26.

The Spurs opened the second half on a 23-9 run to get within single digits. Gilgeous-Alexander and Jared McCain combined for 25 second-half points to keep them there. McCain finished with 20 points off the bench, making 6 of 8 threes in 22 minutes, and was plus-20. Alex Caruso was plus-16.

Wembanyama went 1 of 13 from the field, the worst shooting night of his career, with 12 points, 13 rebounds and six blocks. Holmgren had 14 points, seven rebounds and four blocks, and the rookie Aday Mara blocked one of Wembanyama’s alley-oop attempts. Stephon Castle led San Antonio with 24 points and Dylan Harper scored 18, but the Spurs shot 39% overall and 10 of 37 from three.

Holmgren said the defense was a team effort. “We did it as a team. Everybody did a great job of guarding their yard and keeping their man from getting to driving angles and being able to get downhill,” he said in his postgame interview with the Thunder. “From there, just being in the gaps, being there for each other, having each other’s back on the help. Again, just playing together.”

“That’s what happens when you play for each other,” Holmgren said of the offense, which had 24 assists and made 14 of 31 threes. “Everybody’s moving to get open for the passer, and the passer’s looking for them. We got some dudes that can make them.”

The Thunder host the Denver Nuggets on Thursday in their home opener.