Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 26 points in 26 minutes, and the Oklahoma City Thunder rolled past the Victor Wembanyama-less San Antonio Spurs 127-89 on Wednesday night.
OKLAHOMA CITY — Thunder coach Mark Daigneault has preached all season that his team is about the process rather than results.Wembanyama, one of the league's rising stars as a rookie, was out with an injured right ankle. San Antonio’s No. 2 scorer,Oklahoma City still approached the game as it normally would. The Thunder ran out to an 11-0 lead as the Spurs missed their first seven shots and didn’t score for more than three minutes at the start.
“I thought we were businesslike and serious to start the game, both ends of the floor, and really sustained it throughout,” Daigneault said. “I thought we did a nice job tonight, playing the way that we want to play and stacking those possessions, regardless of the scoreboard. So give the guys a lot of credit.”said he was sitting Wembanyama because it was the second game of a back-to-back set and he was looking out for his star's long-term health.
“I feel badly because he’s not a happy camper right now,” Popovich said before the game. “He wants to be out there, but I’m looking at the long view. And, you know, we’ve had some trouble with this particular injury during the season.”in the race for the best record in the Western Conference with three games remaining. The Thunder say they are more interested in playing well down the stretch than worrying about their position in the standings.
“We’re not going to white knuckle the last week of the season and watch the standings because we haven’t done that all year," Daigneault said."We’ve just really focused on being the best team we can be, and that’s what we’ll continue to do all the way through to 82.” Oklahoma City led 68-35 at halftime. The Thunder held San Antonio to 28.6% shooting and scored 22 points off San Antonio's 10 turnovers before the break. Gilgeous-Alexander and Giddey each scored 18 points in the first half. It was a season low in points allowed for the Thunder in a half this season.“Doesn’t matter what’s going on on the court, it’s about them executing — how to play not just with each other, but improving their individual games," he said.
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