Top 5 Opening Night Takeaways From Thunder vs Spurs

The long offseason was well worth the wait for Oklahoma City Thunder diehard fans.

OKC defeated their arch nemesis San Antonio Spurs by a resounding final score of 116-104 in front of a national television audience on Tuesday night. The Western Conference Finals rematch somehow wasn't even as close as the end result makes it seem. At one point, the Thunder led the reigning West champs by 26 points.

The much anticipated Opening Night matchup had no shortage of storylines. But let's count down the best ones.

Top 5 Opening Night Takeaways From Thunder vs Spurs

5. Jared McCain was the game's biggest X factor. OKC's Isaiah Joe replacement tied a career high with six 3 pointers off the bench. McCain was a flamethrower against the tough Spurs defense, scoring 20 points and finishing a game-high +20 in 22 minutes.

4. A healthy Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell are gamechangers. Their box score totals don't pop, but OKC just having their second and third ball handlers, shot creators and playmakers on the floor impacted the entire game. It's only one game, it's a long season and anything can happen going forward. But tonight was a little validation for those who said OKC would have gone back to the NBA Finals last year had they been healthy.

3. Thunder defense clamped Victor Wembanyama. The overwhelming preseason favorite for MVP did not hit a field goal until the final moment of the 3rd quarter. He never made another one. Wembanyama finished with 12 points on 1-13 shooting. His only means of scoring came at the free throw line. Credit goes to the whole team but especially to Chet Holmgren, Isaiah Hartenstein, Aday Mara and Jaylin Williams.

2. Chet Holmgren bounces back big. Despite his All-NBA, All-Star, All-Defense season last year in which the Thunder big man finished #2 in Defensive Player of the Year voting, all the offseason chatter was fixated on his Game 7 against the Spurs. Holmgren responded with an aggressive, physical, impactful two way performance that resulted in 14 points and 4 blocks. 

1. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is still the best player in the world. All the back to back Most Valuable Player did in his season debut was score 32 efficient points while racking up 3 steals and 3 blocks on the other end. While a loud portion of the media is ready to crown Wembanyama, Gilgeous-Alexander is not ready to give up the title. OKC's superstar was clearly the best player on the court in a head to head matchup of the league's top two MVP candidates.