Spurs dominate again, crushing the Thunder. Victor Wembanyama's squad showcases championship form, leaving OKC searching for answers before their Christmas rematch.
The Oklahoma City Thunder is officially in a little bit of a funk, losing three of its last five games. Two of those losses have come at the hands of the San Antonio Spurs, as Victor Wembanyama has this team looking like a legitimate contender. Really, from beginning to end, in tonight’s contest, the Spurs were the better team. They win by 20 points with a final score of 130-110.
Now of course, there were moments in which Oklahoma City took marginal leads and threw punches, but it felt like the Thunder was playing from behind the entire night. Then the fourth quarter hit and San Antonio slammed the door, outscoring OKC 43-28 to turn a competitive game into a runaway.
It’s important to note why San Antonio looked so good tonight, especially with these teams matching up again on Christmas Day at Paycom Center in less than 48 hours. There’s no question the Spurs are one of the best teams in the entire NBA, but some of the production they got tonight shouldn’t be treated like a guarantee moving forward.
The Spurs shot great from beyond the arc, hitting 16 threes and shooting 44.0% from deep. They also won the possession battle in a way OKC typically does to opponents. San Antonio finished with 10 steals compared to OKC’s four, and the Spurs took care of the ball, committing only eight turnovers while forcing 13 from the Thunder. That’s how you generate separation without needing everything else to be perfect.
It also felt like one of those games where the Spurs did what the Thunder normally does: winning 50-50 balls, being more crisp in rotations, having more energy, and playing like they simply wanted it more. Keldon Johnson came off the bench with 25 points, which was a major swing in the flow of the game, and Stephon Castle added 24 points as well.
For OKC, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 33 points and eight assists, but he didn’t get nearly enough help. No Thunder teammate scored more than 17 points. Jalen Williams had 17 on 8-of-18 shooting. Chet Holmgren only had seven points on 3-of-10 shooting. Lu Dort did finally have a good game, going 5-of-8 from deep and scoring 15 points, but overall the Thunder’s offense is in the mud outside of Shai, and when the Spurs are scoring like that, you simply have to be able to generate buckets to keep pace.
So from here, these two teams will match up again on Christmas Day, with the number one and two teams in the West going at it once more. OKC will have a chance to snap its two-game losing streak to San Antonio and remind everybody what it looks like when the Thunder is the team dictating terms.