Player Grades: Thunder Fall Short Of Upset In 116-106 Loss To Spurs

Hoping for one last grasp at a comeback, Aaron Wiggins sped down the court. His ambitions were deflated when Victor Wembanyama easily swallowed his shot attempt with another block. On the other end, San Antonio's superstar finally caught an alley-oop.

The Oklahoma City Thunder played honorably in a 116-106 loss to the San Antonio Spurs. In a results-oriented business, you can't get too mad to see the reigning NBA champions fall just short, considering how many guys were out.

Let's dive into the full context — the Thunder were beat up. Worse than they've ever been this season, which says a lot. With Shai Gilgeous-Alexander out for a couple of weeks, the rest of the OKC starters took the game off. They only had eight players suit up, which included all three two-way guys.

The lengthy list of absences spelled a recipe for a boring blowout. The Spurs were mostly good to go. They had Wembanyama and friends available. And early on, it looked like that's how the game script would get written out for the next two-plus hours.

It didn't take long for the Thunder to get behind by double-digit points. Wembanyama easily grabbed misses over OKC's undersized frontcourt. Devin Vassell knocked down an outside jumper to put OKC in a 21-11 deficit within the first six minutes.

Eventually, that escalated. Off the bench, Keldon Johnson got hot. The microwave scorer put up buckets. The Thunder couldn't counteract. The Thunder were in a 39-26 deficit after the first quarter. Oh boy. Not good. Maybe this was a game most fans could tune out of.

Things only got worse. Kenrich Williams tried to swish in a pull-up 3-pointer with Wembanyama in his face. That went as expected with the easy block. The NBA All-Star starter then got the size mismatch with Cason Wallace in the post and easily leaped for a layup. Just like that, the Thunder were in a 50-30 hole.

The only positive was ESPN's report. The broadcast's sideline reporter said Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams were considered day-to-day with their respective injuries — and that the latter could even return sooner than anticipated. That perked up OKC fans' ears like rabbits. Both returns could help the Thunder survive Gilgeous-Alexander's absence.

Despite the vibes suggesting the Thunder being in an unclimbable hole, they slowly got back into it. Wiggins swished in an outside jumper before a shot-clock violation. He later syphoned the ball to Brooks Barnhizer for another outside bucket.

The Thunder scored 32 points in the second frame. They were in a 73-58 deficit at halftime. Honestly, not bad. Could've been a lot worse considering the disparity in talent. After getting down by 22 points, OKC eventually played its brand of basketball.

Eventually, the Thunder figured it out on offense. Wiggins and Williams got hot. They hovered around 40% from deep. Too bad OKC's defense couldn't keep up as it became a shot-making contest in the third quarter. They scored 27 points in it and were in a 95-85 hole.

Goofing up on a couple of alley-oop attempts, Wembanyama looked mortal. Perhaps Holmgren is the Batman to his Joker. He just didn't look as motivated in this one as in the previous four dates. With a short roster, the Thunder habitually got it within single-digit points.

After Cason Wallace made an outside jumper, the Thunder were just in a 104-98 deficit with a little over five minutes left. Williams grabbed an offensive rebound to score a layup. Just like that, we had a 104-100 game with four minutes to go. According to the NBA, that's considered clutch time. Who would've thought OKC would get to this point, considering how the night started?

Alas, the Spurs responded with a game-sealing 12-4 run to extinguish any hopes of OKC pulling a Cinderella. Wembanyama remembered he was easily the most talented player on the floor and took over on both ends. Stephon Castle salvaged an otherwise ugly game by hitting a couple of critical jumpers down the stretch.

The Thunder's 22-point comeback attempt fell short as they only had 21 points in the fourth quarter. With the Gatorade logo underneath the sneakers, OKC's lack of scoring talent and exhaustion finally caught up to them. Oh well.

The Thunder shot 40% from the field and went 19-of-47 (40.4%) from 3. They shot 13-of-14 on free throws. They had 26 assists on 37 baskets. Five Thunder players scored double-digit points.

Kenrich Williams had 25 points and nine rebounds. Jaylin Williams had 24 points and 12 rebounds. Wiggins tallied 20 points and six assists. Wallace had 13 points and five assists. Barnhizer finished with 14 points and five assists.

Meanwhile, the Spurs shot 45% from the field and went 14-of-42 (33.3%) from 3. They shot 12-of-20 on free throws. They had 26 assists on 45 baskets. Five Spurs players scored double-digit points.

Wembanyama led the way with 22 points and 14 rebounds. De'Aaron Fox had 15 points and 10 assists. Johnson scored 25 points and grabbed six rebounds off the bench. Castle struggled with 14 points and four assists. Carter Bryant broke out with 11 points and five rebounds.

Honestly, can't get too mad at this one. This was a punt game as soon as the Thunder listed 10 of their 15 standard players out on the second night of this home-and-road back-to-back. Anything short of getting beaten up on the scoreboard was an unofficial win.

There were a couple of times where your mind crossed that OKC's C squad could pull off the David-esque upset, but not having a bucket-getter really was exposed in those high-leverage moments. Not much you can do about it. You hope Jared McCain can help with some of that as he was the Thunder's big trade deadline acquisition.

Let's look at Thunder player grades:

Jaylin Williams: A

Catching the ball at the left elbow, Williams went with the floater despite Wembanyama's contest. The jumper feathered in for a shot attempt that explained OKC's situation. With almost everybody out, this turned into a game where the role players had a chance to vacuum up as many scoring possessions as they'd like.

Williams finished with 24 points on 6-of-15 shooting, 12 rebounds and four assists. He shot 4-of-11 from 3 and went 8-of-8 on free throws. He also had two blocks.

Without a traditional point guard suited up, the Thunder duct-taped an offense that ran through Williams' playmaking. Surrounded by their best shooters and cutters, he had their offense flowing to the point that it did enough on that end of the floor to escape with the gigantic upset win.

Scaling up as a scorer, Williams took advantage of his looks. His outside jumper was mostly there on catch-and-shoot attempts. And he managed to get to the free-throw line at a decent clip. He also helped the Thunder not get completely dismantled on the boards — which has never been his strong suit.

The Thunder made this a stomachable game to at least watch. Williams helped with that. He scored a career-high in points as the Spurs were puzzled to stop his version of the 23-year-old. We've seen him morph into a triple-double machine under similar circumstances, so it shouldn't be a surprise he was fine being OKC's focal point.

JWill with the smooth touch ???? pic.twitter.com/RlHAb3yjnB

— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) February 5, 2026

Kenrich Williams: A

Running to the basket for a potential miss, Williams caught Wallace's whiffed layup for the second-chance bucket. Trimming San Antonio's lead to four points with four minutes to go, that proved to be the closest OKC would get on the scoreboard in a game where it trailed the entire night.

Williams finished with 25 points on 9-of-18 shooting, nine rebounds and two assists. He shot 4-of-7 from 3 and went 3-of-4 on free throws. He also had one steal.

Speaking of role players who stepped up, Williams fit the bill. He also scored a career-high in points. In a similar way with mostly jumpers. He took advantage of all the vacated possessions left by his All-Star teammates. A fadeaway jumper at the end of the first half resembled Gilgeous-Alexander's signature look.

On a hot night from the outside, Williams added to OKC's showing. They almost pulled off the upset from beyond the perimeter alone. The 31-year-old also had a couple of savvy cuts to the basket for layups. Considering the ingredients, the Thunder cooked up a five-course meal.

As the Thunder have been ravaged by injuries, Williams has quietly enjoyed a career year. The eyeball test and advanced metrics show it. As has been the case since he first arrived in OKC, whenever he's given minutes, positive things usually materialize.

Work on both ends ↔️ pic.twitter.com/rWBjUeWFK0

— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) February 5, 2026

Keep working ???? pic.twitter.com/hmj20d5QTc

— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) February 5, 2026

Aaron Wiggins: A

Getting Castle to bite on the pump-fake, Wiggins side-dribbled his way to an open look. He urgently swished in an outside jumper to beat the shot-clock violation. The Thunder made this a game as three role players upped their play to being 20-point scorers.

Wiggins finished with 20 points on 7-of-14 shooting, six assists and four rebounds. He shot 4-of-7 from 3 and went 2-of-2 on free throws. He also had five steals.

While the rest of the Thunder eventually found their confidence, Wiggins became a one-man show in the first half. He had 16 points to keep this from turning into a comedy. He sliced through San Antonio's defense despite Wembanyama roaming around.

The outside jumper was also there. As Isaiah Joe struggled, it was Wiggins' turn to put up a monster scoring number. In a rhythm, he hit important jumpers to help the Thunder turn in a great outside shooting performance. Something you seldom see from this squad.

Wiggins was another role player who had no problem putting more on his plate. He became a pseudo-playmaker. One of the longest-tenured guys on the team, he helped the two-way guys get comfortable. He also helped on defense by notching five steals. He's really grown on that side of the ball this season.

Wiggs in his bag early ???? pic.twitter.com/5CKPCNWviM

— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) February 5, 2026

Right on time ???? pic.twitter.com/PEyqK9zDTv

— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) February 5, 2026

Brooks Barnhizer: C

Left completely open, Barnhizer found himself in quite the predicament. Early on, it was obvious the Spurs copied their Christmas Day formula on Alex Caruso by daring the 23-year-old to beat them from beyond the perimeter. Anytime the ball was in his hands, they considered that a defensive win.

Barnhizer finished with 14 points on 5-of-15 shooting, five assists and three rebounds. He shot 4-of-9 from 3.

One of the fun things about these types of throwaway games is seeing how players respond in new roles. In Barnhizer's case, it was the first time he played real minutes sans garbage time. The results were pretty mixed, which shouldn't be a shocker considering his profile.

There were times when you could tell the game was going way too fast for Barnhizer. Four fouls and two turnovers show that. He needs to learn to slow his mind down and make a simple decision when the ball reaches his hands. That said, you have to respect his process.

Barnhizer didn't hesitate when he was left open from deep. He turned in a decent performance that helped him get a new career-high in points. Since he arrived in OKC, we all knew the outside shot was going to be the swing skill for his NBA ambitions. This was a nice step in the right direction all things considered.

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This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Player grades: Thunder fall short of upset in 116-106 loss to Spurs