Dort, Holmgren lead Thunder past Spurs

OKLAHOMA CITY — Lu Dort scored 20 points, Chet Holmgren added 19 and the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the San Antonio Spurs 105-93 on Wednesday night to remain the only unbeaten team in the Western Conference.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 18 points, and Jalen Williams had 12 points, eight assists and seven rebounds for the Thunder. Oklahoma City has won all four of its games by at least 12 points.

Harrison Barnes scored 18 points, Jeremy Sochan had 17 points and nine rebounds, and Chris Paul added 14 points and nine assists for the Spurs.

San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama was held to six points on 1-for-5 shooting in his matchup with Holmgren, a fellow second-year big man. Wembanyama also had eight rebounds and three blocks.

Wembanyama is 7-foot-3, and Holmgren is 7-foot-1. Wembanyama was last year’s Rookie of the Year for the San Antonio Spurs, and Holmgren was the runner-up for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Both have ballhandling skills and shooting range that are unusually good for players with their height and length.

That kind of storyline potentially leads to higher ratings and more fans in seats.

“The NBA is a business,” Holmgren said. “And the league has been built around players … It’s really — it’s about getting people to come and watch the games. And that’s one of the ways they do it — by advertising the players. So, I just see it as a form of advertising.”

Wembanyama was held to six points on 1-for-5 shooting. He did not take a shot or score in the second half.

Takeaways

Spurs: Wembanyama is competitive against a team at the Thunder’s level, but much of his team isn’t. The Spurs shot just 41.2% from the field and struggled to manufacture shots for their young star.

Thunder: Oklahoma City showed it can handle business when Gilgeous-Alexander’s shot is off. Gilgeous-Alexander, one of the league’s top scorers with 28.7 points per game through his first three contests, made just 7 of 20 shots, including 2 of 10 from 3.

Key moment

The Spurs cut Oklahoma City’s lead to 82-75 in the fourth quarter before the Thunder went on a 9-2 run with Gilgeous-Alexander on the bench to regain control of the game. Rookie Ajay Mitchell scored five points during that stretch. The Thunder led 93-81 when Gilgeous-Alexander returned, and OKC led 103-87 when he went to the bench for good with 2:46 remaining.

Up next

The Spurs visit the Jazz on Thursday, and the Thunder visit the Trail Blazers on Friday.