Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 34 points, and the defending NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder beat San Antonio 119-98 on Tuesday night to earn their first win in four tries against the Spurs this season.

Jalen Williams added 20 points and Chet Holmgren chipped in eight points, 10 rebounds and three blocks for Oklahoma City. The Thunder improved to a league-best 34-7 at the midway point of the season – on pace to match last season’s 68-14 regular-season finish.

Stephon Castle scored 20 points and Victor Wembanyama added 17 points and seven rebounds for the Spurs.

San Antonio started the night in second place behind Oklahoma City in the Western Conference standings. The Spurs announced their presence as a title contender with three wins over the Thunder in a two-week span last month, but now they have lost six of 10.

Oklahoma City started this season with a 24-1 record, then hit a lull that included the three losses to the Spurs but has recovered to win four straight.

Oklahoma City won without two starters – top rebounder Isaiah Hartenstein and defensive stopper Lu Dort. The Thunder still held the Spurs to 40% shooting from the floor.

 

Loud & Loyal came through tonight pic.twitter.com/jVKC7JwlSd

— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) January 14, 2026

James just shy of triple-double in win

LeBron James had 31 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds, and the Los Angeles Lakers emphatically snapped their three-game skid with a 141-116 victory over the Atlanta Hawks.

Luka Doncic added 27 points and 12 assists for the Lakers, who jumped to a 32-point lead early in the second half and capably weathered the Hawks' big late rally. Los Angeles has lost four straight games only once since acquiring Doncic nearly a year ago.

While playing the second game of his first back-to-back appearances during his unprecedented 23rd NBA season, James fell just short of his first triple-double since last Feb. 1 in New York - a day better remembered for the Lakers' seismic trade for Doncic later that night.

Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 26 points and CJ McCollum had 25 for the Hawks, who had won on the first two stops of their West Coast road trip.

Corey Kispert scored 19 points while thriving alongside McCollum in both players' second game with Atlanta since being traded by Washington for Trae Young.

 

#LakersWIN pic.twitter.com/Z2l8Pgzvbq

— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) January 14, 2026

Randle keeps Wolves surging

Julius Randle scored 29 points and the hot-shooting Minnesota Timberwolves never trailed in a 139-106 blowout of the Milwaukee Bucks.

The Timberwolves won for the sixth time in seven games despite missing top scorer Anthony Edwards due to maintenance on his right foot and leading rebounder Rudy Gobert, who served a one-game suspension for flagrant fouls. Gobert picked up his sixth flagrant foul point Sunday in a 104-103 victory over the San Antonio Spurs.

Coach Chris Finch returned for Minnesota after he missed the Spurs game with an illness.

The Timberwolves made a season-high 22 3-pointers on 43 attempts and shot a season-best 59.8% overall as the Bucks allowed their highest point total of the season.

Giannis Antetokounmpo had 25 points, eight rebounds and five assists for the Bucks.

 

THAT WAS FUN. pic.twitter.com/8OXjp9bIFF

— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) January 14, 2026