Spurs dominate Thunder again, showcasing Wembanyama's impact and OKC's three-point struggles. Is San Antonio a contender?
The Oklahoma City Thunder is officially in a rut, losing four of its past six games. Three of those losses have come at the hands of the San Antonio Spurs, who once again took down Oklahoma City with ease on Christmas Day, this time on the Thunder’s home court in front of its own fans. At this point, the Spurs look like a matchup nightmare for OKC.
San Antonio’s offense has had no issue scoring against the Thunder’s elite defense, and Victor Wembanyama’s rim presence continues to warp everything OKC wants to do. It forces the Thunder into becoming a three-point shooting team, and that’s not this roster’s greatest strength. During stretches of this season and even at points in last year’s playoffs, three-point shooting has been a weak spot for this group, and that’s exactly what flipped this matchup.
This one got away from OKC immediately. The Spurs dropped 41 points in the first quarter and 69 by halftime, which marked the most points the Thunder had allowed in a half all season. De’Aaron Fox led the way with 29 points, doing most of his damage early and setting the tone before the game ever had a chance to settle. Stephon Castle was phenomenal again, and rookie Dylan Harper added 12 points while looking anything but a first-year player.
On the other side, nobody really stepped up offensively. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 22 points, but it never felt like the kind of scoring burst OKC needed to flip momentum. Isaiah Hartenstein had 13, Jalen Williams had 12, and Chet Holmgren ended with 10 in a quiet night for a player the Thunder typically rely on to tilt matchups.
The shooting numbers tell the story. OKC hit just 25 percent from three while the Spurs cruised offensively and shot 53 percent overall. San Antonio made the shots it needed to make all night. The Thunder couldn’t buy even wide open looks. Alex Caruso going 0-for-8 from beyond the arc in the first half was the perfect snapshot of the night. It was a tale of a team that looked outmatched again, and a Spurs team that looks like more than just a feel-good story.
San Antonio has been the surprise of the season, but games like this make it fair to ask if this is already a contender, not a team that’s a year or two away. For the Thunder, the bigger question is what this stretch does to their approach as the trade deadline gets closer. For now, the Spurs match up with the Thunder better than anybody OKC has seen over the last two years.
Next up, Oklahoma City will look to get back on track against the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday.