OKLAHOMA CITY, Ok. -- The Oklahoma City Thunder outscored the San Antonio Spurs by ten in the fourth quarter to claim a six-point opening-game victory over their Western Conference rivals Wednesday night.
2014-15 NBA scoring leader Russell Westbrook electrified the Thunder's attack with a game-high 33 points along with 10 assists. Westbrook scored nine to lead OKC to their 33-23 final quarter and conducted the offense to perfection in the win.
Kawhi Leonard scored 13 in the fourth en route to a career-high 32 points and eight rebounds to lead the Spurs. San Antonio simply couldn't find consistent offense from anyone else; LaMarcus Aldridge and Manu Ginobili had 11 points to tie for second-highest in scoring for the Spurs on Wednesday.
Tony Parker added 10 for the Spurs and fellow point guard Patty Mills scored nine.
After missing the majority of the 2014-15 season and playing his last game in February, Kevin Durant looked decent in Oklahoma City's season and home opener, scoring 22 points on 6-19 shooting from the field and hauling in six rebounds. KD did hit two crucial free throws with 11.5 seconds remaining to seal Oklahoma City's victory.
Enes Kanter added a big double-double of his own, gritting out 15 points and 16 boards in a tough battle inside the paint with Aldridge and Tim Duncan. Kanter actually began the game on the bench and played 24 minutes.
Westbrook recorded his tenth assist on a Durant three-pointer with just over four minutes left in the game, putting the Thunder up 99-97.
Parker put San Antonio up two, but Dion Waiters then scored back-to-back buckets for OKC to reclaim a two-point advantage. Another Durant trifecta made the lead five with 54 seconds remaining.
With 42 seconds left, Leonard converted a critical and-one to cut the lead back to two, and after Westbrook missed a jump shot, San Antonio had a chance to tie or claim a late lead.
Luckily for the Thunder, Steven Adams rejected Danny Green's off-balance three-point attempt to gain possession for Oklahoma City. Green was hounded all night offensively, as Andre Roberson and the Thunder defense held him to four points on nine shots.
San Antonio intentionally fouled Durant, at which points he splashed two easy shots from the stripe to close out the contest in Oklahoma City's favor.
Wednesday marked the debut for Thunder coach Billy Donovan, and the former-Florida coach started his NBA campaign off with a clutch win over an elite Western Conference opponent.
It was also the first time the Thunder's starting five of Westbrook, Roberson, Durant, Serge Ibaka, and Adams was completely intact since last February.
Both sides play their next matchups Friday. The Spurs will host the Brooklyn Nets for an 8:30 PM ET start time, while the Thunder travels to face the Orlando Magic for a 7:00 PM ET tip.
Oklahoma City's Cameron Payne, the sixteenth pick from the 2015 NBA Draft, was inactive for opening day.