Thunder spoil Spurs' homecoming with victory behind career-high 41 points by Williams
Published
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Jalen Williams had a career-high 41 points, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 31 and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat San Antonio 146-132 on Sunday night, spoiling the Spurs' homecoming following a momentous road trip.
Oklahoma City (49-11) won its third straight and moved a game behind Cleveland (50-10) for the NBA's top record.
Rookie guard Stephon Castle had 32 points to lead San Antonio, which has lost five of six.
During their month-long excursion from the Frost Bank Center, the Spurs acquired De’Aaron Fox, lost All-Star center Victor Wembanyama for the season to a blood clot in his shoulder and Gregg Popovich announced he will not return as head coach this season.
San Antonio has been in a tailspin since, but put up a fight against Oklahoma City, literally.
The Thunder's Kenrich Williams and Lu Dort were ejected along with the Spurs' Julian Champagnie for fighting with three minutes remaining in the third quarter.
Williams clutched at his jaw in pain after Champagnie pulled his elbows through for a pass above his head. As Castle gathered Champagnie’s pass and tossed it to Jeremy Sochan for a dunk, Williams lunged at and clutched Champagnie’s jersey.
The two wings began pushing and grabbing each other violently, but no punches appeared to be thrown. Both teams ran to the skirmish following the dunk. Dort grabbed and pulled on Sochan’s jersey as the coaching staffs and security attempted to pull the players apart.
Sochan was assessed a technical foul, but was not ejected. Sochan finished with 17 points and Fox had 20 points.
Takeaways
Thunder: Oklahoma City center Isaiah Hartenstein had 10 points, 11 rebounds and six assists in 29 minutes.
Spurs: Castle is the fifth rookie in Spurs history with multiple 30-point games.
Key moment
Oklahoma City opened the second half on a 13-4 run. After setting a franchise record with 16 3-pointers in the first half, the Spurs were 0 for 8 on 3s in the third quarter.
Key stat
San Antonio had 16 3-pointers in the first half, two shy of tying the NBA record for most 3s in any half.
Up next
The Thunder host Houston on Monday night. The Spurs host Brooklyn on Tuesday night.
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