At A Glance
- OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 31 points, and the Oklahoma City Thunder improved to 6-0 by beating the Washington Wizards 127-108 on Thursday night.
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, right, looks for an opening around Washington Wizards guard Tre Johnson, left, during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Kyle Phillips)
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 31 points, and the Oklahoma City Thunder improved to 6-0 by beating the Washington Wizards 127-108 on Thursday night.
Reserve Ajay Mitchell added 20 points for the Thunder. He made all six of his free throws and has been perfect on 19 attempts from the line this season.
Isaiah Joe, who missed Oklahoma City’s first five games with a knee bruise, scored 20 points and made five 3-pointers for a team that entered the night last in the league in 3-point percentage at 28.8%.
Oklahoma City forced 22 turnovers and had only six. Cason Wallace led the Thunder with four steals and Alex Caruso had three.
CJ McCollum had 19 points and Bilal Coulibaly added 16 for Washington, which lost its third straight and fell to 1-4.
Despite their perfect record, all isn't well for the defending NBA champion Thunder.
Oklahoma City general manager Sam Presti announced earlier in the day that guard Nikola Topic had been diagnosed with testicular cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy.
Other health issues have been present throughout the season, too. Oklahoma City was again without injured star forwards Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams. Holmgren has missed the past two games with lower back soreness. Williams hasn’t played this season while recovering from offseason surgery on his right wrist.
As has been the case in these early weeks, Oklahoma City conducted business as usual. The Thunder closed the first half on a 15-5 run to take a 59-49 lead at the break. Gilgeous-Alexander had 20 points in the first half and Joe added 14.
Meanwhile in San Antonio, Victor Wembanyama had 27 points, 18 rebounds, six assists and five blocked shots, and the Spurs improved to 5-0 for the first time in franchise history by beating the Miami Heat, 107-101.
San Antonio won four straight to open a season on three previous occasions, most recently 2017. The Spurs, Heat and Sacramento Kings were the only franchises never to open a season 5-0. Miami couldn't prevent San Antonio from exiting that club despite a determined effort.
Bam Adebayo had 31 points, 10 rebounds and three assists for the Heat in a matchup of All-Star centers.
The Heat were without Norman Powell (strained groin), Tyler Herro (ankle), Kasparas Jakucionis (strained groin) and Nikola Jovic (bruised hip), but the depleted roster made a strong push in the fourth quarter before Miami's three-game winning streak was snapped.
The Heat had a 17-1 run in the first 4:35 of the final quarter, with Wembanyama’s second free throw the lone point. The Heat had a 29-20 scoring advantage in the final quarter but the Spurs closed the game on an 8-3 run to preserve their winning streak.
Earlier in Milwaukee, Ryan Rollins set a career scoring high for a second straight game with 32 points as the Bucks withstood Giannis Antetokounmpo’s absence to beat the Golden State Warriors, 120-110.
Antetokounmpo, who entered Thursday ranked second in the league in scoring (36.3) and rebounding (14.0), was dealing with left knee soreness that had him listed as probable in the Bucks’ injury report. The Bucks announced about an hour before the opening tip that the two-time MVP had been ruled out, and he watched the game from the bench.
Rollins shot 13 of 21 from the floor and 5 of 7 from 3-point range just two nights after scoring 25 points in a 121-111 victory over the New York Knicks. Rollins, who began his NBA career with Golden State in 2022-23, also had eight assists.
Myles Turner added 17 points for the Bucks. Cole Anthony had 16 before fouling out with 7:34 left to lead a Milwaukee bench that outscored Golden State's reserves 38-29.