The mind games continue. Regardless of the result. Circling it for months, the Oklahoma City Thunder absolutely showed up and dominated Opening Night en route to a 116-104 win over the San Antonio Spurs. For the first time in a while, they thoroughly outplayed their archrival.
That said, the war continues. Exchanging battle wins, the Thunder and Spurs have faced off a ridiculous 13 times over the last calendar year. That includes an epic seven-game duel in the 2026 Western Conference Finals where OKC fell just shy of back-to-back NBA championships.
You can't erase that, but this was a step in the right direction for the Thunder to reshift their narrative. Opening Night was a must-win scenario. For vibes and storylines. Credit to OKC, it played like it was the case. They were the more physical team from the jump. Up by as many as 26 points, they completely stonewalled Victor Wembanyama and company.
Now that that's over, the Spurs are looking ahead. As of now, the Thunder only face them two more times in the 2026-27 regular season — Feb. 11 and Mar. 14. So we're a little ways away from a potential new chapter. That said, Stephon Castle is getting ready already.
For the first time in a while, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander absolutely cooked Castle. The two-time MVP winner had 32 points on 13-of-27 shooting, six rebounds and four assists. He shot 3-of-7 from 3 and went 3-of-4 on free throws. Anytime the Thunder desperately needed a bucket to slow down San Antonio's run, he answered the call.
The two most important numbers there? Gilgeous-Alexander's low free-throw attempts and high 3-point volume. Perhaps he's shifting more toward a jumper-happy scorer. The drives to the rim were down. The 28-year-old may be trying to be more cognizant of saving his legs for the 2027 NBA playoffs.
But Castle went at Gilgeous-Alexander's contact selling. Even though the numbers don't reflect a huge free-throw shooting game.
"Really trying to be physical with him, but physical enough to where you don't bait yourself into a foul. That's probably the hardest part," Castle said. "But it's not really an individual thing, it's more of a team thing. That goes for any good player in the league."
This is all mind games from Castle and the Spurs. If you follow the NBA long enough, you know teams usually make these comments for the next game. We'll see if it works out, but Gilgeous-Alexander's free-throw numbers were a non-storyline on Opening Night.
Stephon Castle on the challenge of guarding SGA:
— Oh No He Didn't 🤯 (@ohnohedidnt24) October 21, 2026
"Really trying to be physical with him, but physical enough to where you don't bait yourself into a foul. That's probably the hardest part. But it's not really an individual thing, it's more of a team thing" pic.twitter.com/wbH2hS5UF3
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Stephon Castle hopes to avoid falling for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's foul-drawing