Thunder beat the Spurs 116-104 in a Western final rematch as Jared McCain hits six threes off the bench

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander stepped back and hit a 25-foot three with 2:56 left in the second quarter. It put the Oklahoma City Thunder up 59-33, a 26-point lead, at the end of a 13-0 run. The Thunder beat the San Antonio Spurs 116-104 on Tuesday at Frost Bank Center in the last game of the NBA's opening night.

It was the first meeting since Game 7 of last season's Western Conference finals, which San Antonio won 111-103 in Oklahoma City.

Gilgeous-Alexander scored 32 points on 13-of-27 shooting. Jared McCain scored 20 off the bench and made six of his eight threes, two of them in the fourth quarter. The Thunder were plus-20 in his 22 minutes.

Oklahoma City's first half

The Spurs led three times early, never by more than three points. Their last lead was 11-9 midway through the first quarter.

Oklahoma City led 34-28 after one quarter. Alex Caruso hit threes from 26 and 27 feet in the last 2:18 of it, and Gilgeous-Alexander blocked two shots in the last 1:05.

The Thunder won the second quarter 31-16. Early in it, De'Aaron Fox was called for a flagrant foul, and Chet Holmgren made both free throws. Jalen Williams hit a 26-foot three at 5:47 to start the 13-0 run. Gilgeous-Alexander, Caruso and McCain scored in it before the step-back three. Oklahoma City led 65-44 at halftime.

The Spurs' third quarter

San Antonio scored the first nine points of the second half. Dylan Harper scored on two running layups, Fox on a pull-up, and Stephon Castle hit a three from 24 feet to make it 65-53.

Castle hit two more threes, from 26 feet at 8:35 and on a step-back at 7:07, and his running layup at 6:05 made it 74-67. It was as close as the Spurs got in the second half. They won the quarter 36-28.

Oklahoma City steadied with free throws from Holmgren and Gilgeous-Alexander and a floater by Aday Mara. Gilgeous-Alexander scored 12 in the quarter, including a pull-up and a free throw with 10.5 seconds left. The Thunder led 93-80 after three.

The fourth

The Spurs cut it to 95-88 with 8:18 left on two free throws by Harper. McCain answered with a 26-foot three, and Cason Wallace followed with a running dunk. It was 100-88.

Castle's 25-foot pull-up made it 104-97 with 4:18 to go. McCain hit from 25 feet 23 seconds later. Gilgeous-Alexander added a pull-up, Isaiah Hartenstein a floater from a McCain pass, and Jalen Williams a free throw: 112-97 with 1:56 left. Castle made one more three, and Gilgeous-Alexander blocked his dunk attempt with 1:15 left.

The numbers

Gilgeous-Alexander had five rebounds, four assists, three blocks and two steals in 36 minutes. Holmgren scored 14, made all eight of his free throws and blocked four shots. Jalen Williams scored 12 on 5-of-16 shooting. Caruso had nine points and seven rebounds and was plus-16.

Victor Wembanyama made 1 of 13 shots, missed all four of his threes and scored 12 points, 10 of them from the free-throw line. He had 13 rebounds and six blocks. Castle led San Antonio with 24 points and made five threes. Harper scored 18 with seven rebounds and five assists, and Fox had 14 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.

Oklahoma City shot 45 percent to San Antonio's 39 percent and made 14 of 31 threes to the Spurs' 10 of 37. The Spurs had 31 fast-break points to 12 and outscored the Thunder 48-42 in the paint. The teams combined for 21 blocks, 11 by San Antonio.

The crowd was 19,160.

Last season, Oklahoma City went 64-18 and San Antonio 62-20. The Spurs lost the Finals to the New York Knicks, who lost their own opener to Philadelphia on Tuesday.

Scoring

Oklahoma City: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander 32, Jared McCain 20, Chet Holmgren 14, Jalen Williams 12, Alex Caruso 9, Aday Mara 7, Cason Wallace 6, Jaylin Williams 5, Isaiah Hartenstein 4, Ajay Mitchell 4, Kenrich Williams 3, Brooks Barnhizer 0, Bennett Stirtz 0.

San Antonio: Stephon Castle 24, Dylan Harper 18, De'Aaron Fox 14, Victor Wembanyama 12, Keldon Johnson 10, Julian Champagnie 8, Devin Vassell 7, Luke Kornet 4, Harrison Barnes 3, David Jones Garcia 2, Ja'Kobi Gillespie 2, Carter Bryant 0, Maliq Brown 0, Tarris Reed Jr. 0.

By quarter: Oklahoma City 34, 31, 28, 23. San Antonio 28, 16, 36, 24.

What is next

The Thunder open at home against the Denver Nuggets at Paycom Center on Thursday, October 22, at 9:30 p.m. ET. The Spurs host the Houston Rockets at Moody Center on Friday, October 23, at 9:30 p.m. ET.

Earlier on opening night, the Pistons came back from 22 down to beat the Celtics and the 76ers beat the Knicks on banner night. Before the games, we looked at all three matchups.

Update: the Thunder beat the Nuggets 96-84 in their home opener.

Update: Victor Ashby on why the Spurs should keep starting Fox, Castle and Harper.