Aday Mara debuts with Thunder win and blocks Wembanyama in NBA opener

Thunder beat the Spurs in the opener

The Oklahoma City Thunder opened the new NBA season with a road win over the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday, 20 October. Reports print the final score as 104-116 in some places and 116-104 in others, but all of them agree the visitors won. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led Oklahoma City with 32 points, and Jared McCain added 20, including six three-pointers in eight attempts. Oklahoma City led 65-44 at halftime, and San Antonio tried to rally in the final period, with Dylan Harper pushing the offence until McCain's sixth three-pointer, which matched his career best, stopped the comeback.

Mara's first NBA game

Aldy Mara, a 21-year-old centre from Zaragoza, made his debut wearing number 15. He entered with less than six minutes left in the first quarter and scored his first points from the free-throw line after Wembanyama fouled him. Sources put his playing time between 10 minutes and 56 seconds and 12 minutes, and across that span he made three of four field-goal attempts for seven points, two rebounds, one assist and one block. His most talked-about moment came in the third quarter, when he rose to block Wembanyama on an attempted alley-oop, then ran the floor to finish a pass from teammate Ajay Mitchell with a dunk.

Wembanyama's difficult night

Victor Wembanyama finished with 12 points, 10 of them from the free-throw line, after making one of 13 field-goal attempts. Sources say he missed his first 12 shots and only opened his scoring column from the field with an alley-oop from De'Aaron Fox at the end of the third quarter. El Confidencial credits him with 13 rebounds, three assists and six blocks, but the Spurs' offence stalled while he sat on the bench for the closing minutes. Stephon Castle led San Antonio with 24 points and five three-pointers, while Dylan Harper finished with 18 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

Other openers around the league

The Philadelphia 76ers opened their season with a 100-106 win at the New York Knicks, where LeBron James made his debut for the team. James, who is 41 according to La Vanguardia, scored 14 points with nine rebounds and seven assists, while Tyrese Maxey led Philadelphia with 28 points. Before tip-off, the Knicks raised their 2026 championship banner to the rafters at Madison Square Garden, alongside banners from 1970 and 1973, and the players received rings. In Detroit, the Pistons beat the Boston Celtics 121-113 after erasing a deficit of up to 22 points, including a 23-0 run. Hugo Gonzalez played 10 minutes for Boston without scoring, while Paul George scored 38 points, a franchise debut record according to El Periodico.