Thunder 'executing at high level' as Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams enjoy historic partnership

Oklahoma City Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said his team are executing at an elite level after Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams combined to make history on Sunday.

The Thunder recorded a 146-132 win over the San Antonio Spurs to improve to 49-11 for the season.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander continued his MVP-candidate form with 31 points and eight assists, while Jalen Williams scored a career-high 41 points and added seven assists.

Neither player committed a single turnover and combined, they either scored or assisted 105 of the Thunder's 146 points.

No other pair of NBA team-mates have accounted for that many points in a single game while not committing a turnover in records dating back 40 years.

Speaking after the win, which was OKC's 10th in their last 12 games, Daigneault said: "You've got to execute in such a way that good shots present themselves on a possession.

"That's what's really happening right now is we're executing on a high level, which is a cumulative effect of all of our fundamentals."

Of the @okcthunder's 146 points tonight, 105 were either scored or assisted by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or Jalen Williams. Neither of them committed a turnover.No other NBA teammate duo in the last 40 years has accounted for that many points in a game while having 0 turnovers. pic.twitter.com/EqBu6yrqJq
— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) March 3, 2025

The victory was overshadowed, though, by a third-quarter scuffle that almost erupted into a full-scale fight and resulted in three ejections.

Officials issued double technicals to Thunder duo Kenrich Williams and Lu Dort, as well as San Antonio pair Julian Champagnie and Jeremy Sochan, with all but the latter being ejected.

After the incident, which started when Kenrich Williams was elbowed in the jaw while guarding Champagnie, Gilgeous-Alexander told reporters: "It was a blur. I just tried to separate the blur as best as I could."

Spurs interim coach Mitch Johnson, meanwhile, was unsure whether Champangie deserved his ejection, saying: "When people are aggressive, there are a lot of coincidental elbows or contact.

"I don't really know who was at fault, to be honest. But it just looked like that was what initiated it.

"Then there was the response on both ends. It just looked like Kenrich Williams was being aggressive, and Julian was opening up.

"I don't know if that's an offensive foul now. I don't know where that line is, in terms of what space you're allowed."