After the Oklahoma City Thunder emerged victorious in the 2025 NBA Finals, it seemed as if Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and company would have a death grip on the league for the foreseeable future. Considering the franchise’s stockpiling of elite talent and upcoming draft picks, the question at that time wasn’t whether the Thunder would win another championship but rather, how many would they win in a row?
On the other hand, we knew the San Antonio Spurs were surely a looming threat in the years to come. Just how quickly they became a legitimate foil was the surprise. After a 34-48 campaign a year ago saw the team collect a top 3 pick in the draft for the second time in three years, it was clear they were heading in the right direction asset wise but still had to mold a sufficient supporting cast around Victor Wembanyama. There was also a bit of uncertainty surrounding Wembanyama’s health entering the season, after his sophomore season ended with a deep vein thrombosis diagnosis in February 2025.
Taking The Leap
As it turned out, No. 2 overall pick Dylan Harper, 2024 Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle and All-Star DeAaron Fox proved to be one of the best supporting casts in the league. The leap that Wembanyama took both physically and mentally in his third season was astronomical and his health was a non-factor. And while Gilgeous-Alexander escaped with a second consecutive MVP award, it wouldn’t be far-fetched to believe San Antonio’s Alien wins the next five.
The first telltale sign of the Spurs’ arrival was their performance against the Thunder early in the regular season. The teams met three times between December 13 and Christmas Day, with the Spurs winning all three meetings by an average of over 12 points per game. The Thunder got one back against San Antonio with a 21-point win in January, but the Spurs responded to that with a 10-point win over Oklahoma City in February to win the season series 4-1. After the Spurs third consecutive loss to Oklahoma City in December, Gilgeous-Alexander made it very clear how the Thunder felt about their budding rival.
SGA after losing to the Spurs again: "You don't lose to a team three times in a row in a short span without them being better than you"
pic.twitter.com/sIejI6Zz6q
— Oh No He Didn't (@ohnohedidnt24) December 26, 2025
“As a group, you don’t lose to a team three times in a short span without them being better than you,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “They’re just a good basketball team. They know how to play, they have talent. They play the right way, they play together. They’ve been better than us, so we’ve got to look in the mirror and figure it out.”
Finding The Answers
With the way the Thunder have begun the postseason, there’s plenty of reason to believe they can figure it out this series. Oklahoma City is 8-0 through its first two series and has won by an average of 16.6 points per game with just two wins coming by single-digit margins. The Spurs will certainly pose a more complicated challenge than the Suns or the Lakers, but you have to imagine it would be foolish to take too much stock into the regular season results.
Another boost for the Thunder is the fact Jalen Williams told reporters he was healthy entering the series after missing six of the team’s first eight postseason games. A silver lining in Williams’ absences this season has been the emergence of Ajay Mitchell, who is playing like a legitimate second option for a team that’s still decisively favored to win the championship.
Despite the fact San Antonio dominated the regular season series, Vegas is still giving Oklahoma City a substantial edge in the conference finals. The Thunder enter the tilt as -260 favorites, although the series is only +310 to go the distance at seven games. Regardless of the outcome, this is almost certainly just the first edition of a postseason rivalry that will likely define the next decade of NBA basketball.
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