The Spurs Have Suddenly Made the Thunder's Title Defense a Lot More Interesting
OKC still looks like a dynasty-in-waiting — but Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs have exposed a matchup problem that history says can’t be ignored in the playoffs.
For most of the early phase of the 2025-26 NBA season, the headline story was the Oklahoma City Thunder’s overwhelming dominance.
OKC had already won the franchise’s first title in its current incarnation1 this past June, and they looked set to be a championship-contending fixture for the foreseeable future — even if the NBA’s recent run of parity had to temper any grandiose notions of dynasties. Then these Thunder rolled out the ball and started playing again. Aside from a 2-point loss to the Trail Blazers on Nov. 5 (in a game they once led by 22), Oklahoma City won 24 of its first 25 games — joining the 2015-16 Warriors as the only teams to do that — and seemed to be steamrolling its way to a second straight NBA crown in record-chasing fashion.
However, that all changed in the NBA Cup semifinals, when Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs overcame a 16-point first-half deficit to upset OKC en route to the Cup final. Then, after OKC suffered another loss to Minnesota on Dec. 19, San Antonio routed the Thunder by 20 at home on the 23rd — and followed it up with a 15-point win in a nationally-televised Christmas Day rematch in Oklahoma City. In the span of just 12 days, those losses all but completely knocked OKC off track to break the ‘16 Warriors’ NBA record for most wins in a single season, according to the prediction-market odds (per Polymarket):
In the process, they also potentially made this NBA season a lot more interesting. Because not only did the Thunder finally lose to somebody, anybody, but it was one team in particular who started treating OKC like a solvable problem rather than an unstoppable force. History says that can’t be waived away as a fluke — and that matters, because there’s a real chance these teams are headed toward another potential playoff rematch in the spring.
