Oct 20, 2026; San Antonio, Texas, USA; San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) looks up the court in the second half against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Frost Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images
Oct 20, 2026; San Antonio, Texas, USA; San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) looks up the court in the second half against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Frost Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images
Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs hosted their rivals, the Oklahoma City Thunder, on the opening night of the 2026-27 NBA regular season. The Spurs fell 104-116 after the intense matchup went out of hand in the first half, with the Thunder taking a 21-point lead (65-44 at halftime).
On a night that seemed like an uphill battle for the Spurs, their superstar, Victor Wembanyama, was having one of the worst shooting nights of his career. He finished with 12 points, 13 rebounds, three assists, one steal, and six blocks, shooting 1-for-13 from the field (7.7% FG) and missing all four of his three-point attempts. He scored 10 of his 12 points from the free-throw line (10-for-12, 83.3% FT).
After the loss, Victor Wembanyama spoke to the media and candidly reflected on a night he’d rather forget.
“It’s obvious to me; I need to go back to playing the basketball I like. This is not the sport I like, right here. I have no reason to be hesitant. It’s as simple as that. I’m good when I have fun. At some points, I missed a lot of shots I don’t usually miss. I was indecisive. I might be overthinking it,” Wembanyama said.
“I’m always myself, but tonight… I didn’t feel like myself for a bunch of reasons,” Victor Wembanyama also admitted.
Chet Holmgren was Wembanyama’s key defensive matchup tonight. Holmgren also spoke about the Thunder’s role in forcing the French star to have an off night.
“I think we did a great job of keying in on what the coaches gave us and going out there and not only making it tough on him, but tough on everybody else as a team,” Holmgren said.
Despite an insane block in a back-to-back sequence with Wembanyama, Holmgren’s remarks suggest the Thunder didn’t plan anything special to stop Wembanyama, compared with how much effort they put into locking down everyone else on the Spurs.
This supports Wembanyama’s claim that his lack of confidence caused his off night. However, the Spurs’ head coach did not feel Victor Wembanyama’s off night was the sole reason why the Spurs lost this game.
“No, I think everyone struggled pretty equally. I know his field goal percentage will probably stand out, but no, we all participated in that one,” Mitch Johnson said on whether Wembanyama’s field goal percentage stood out in this loss.
The two sides will next meet in February 2027 before closing out their regular-season series in March. After eliminating the Thunder in the 2026 playoffs, this loss is a reality check for Wembanyama: the Thunder are much more competitive when fully healthy.
It will certainly be interesting to see how Wembanyama bounces back from this abysmal start to the regular season.