Shai Gilgeous-Alexander picked up right where he left off against the San Antonio Spurs, and he made his approach sound about as simple as it gets. The Oklahoma City Thunder superstar poured in 32 points on 13-of-27 shooting, adding five rebounds and four assists, as the Thunder beat the Spurs 116-104 on Tuesday night at Frost Bank Center.

Speaking with NBC after the game, The two-time NBA MVP was asked how he found his rhythm so quickly in the season opener.

“This is the game I love. I work hard in the summertime. I come out here and trust my work. It’s that simple. It’s not more complicated than that,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “I come out here with the utmost confidence because of how hard I work, and I trust it every night, and it’s been working for me lately.”

"I come out here and trust my work; it's that simple."

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander after the Thunder's opening-night win over the Spurs 🗣️

(via @NBAonNBC) pic.twitter.com/f5lbs9y4kS

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) October 21, 2026

The win carried extra meaning. The opener was a rematch of last season’s Western Conference Finals, when the Spurs eliminated Oklahoma City with a 111-103 win in Game 7.

“Obviously this is the team that eliminated us from achieving our goal, but for us I think it was more we’re just happy to be back,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “It’s a longer summer when you don’t win, and we felt that this summer.”

Gilgeous-Alexander was quick to keep the result in perspective.

“One of 82, like, this doesn’t prove anything,” he said. “We took a step in the right direction, and we got to do it 81 more times and be ready for the playoffs.”

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The Thunder controlled the game for most of the night. Oklahoma City built a 21-point halftime lead, and after the Spurs cut it to single digits in the third quarter, Gilgeous-Alexander helped push it back to double digits in the fourth. Victor Wembanyama was held to 12 points on 1-of-13 shooting.

Gilgeous-Alexander also made it clear that the sting of last season’s exit is still being felt.

“This group’s hungry. This group wants more. This group’s not satisfied, a little bit more so than in the past,” he said. “I can feel it. We feel it in the building. We feel it in the facility.”

Oklahoma City will look to keep that hunger going when it faces the Denver Nuggets on Thursday.