🔗 Share this article

I’ve become fully convinced: Entrust the San Antonio Spurs the access to Father Christmas's toy factory. Assign Stephon Castle in command of present construction. Permit Fox launch packages into rooftops, from any range he’d like. Vassell can decorate the Christmas cookies. Harrison Barnes has the legion of helpers taken care of. And, of course, Santa Claus’s vehicle must without delay be resized for a taller, slender pilot so that the colossal Wembanyama can pilot it with ease.

The stunning San Antonio squad have defeated the OKC three times in a 14-day span, and in doing so have reinvigorated this basketball campaign. I now have increased confidence in the team's ability to grant excitement to the masses than any seasonal myths of old.

An Ominous Opening

It appeared grim for a time. The Oklahoma City might have won the NBA championship in June, but began this season in increasingly ominous form. They notched 24 wins in their initial 25 contests (the sole defeat was a freak 20-point comeback). In most of them of those games, Jalen Williams, their star supporting player, was on the bench healing from wrist surgery. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, their best player, seldom had to play in fourth quarters. The Thunder beat the Kings by 31. The Lakers, who some expected to be a credible challenger, lost by 29; their basketball savant Doncic looked like he was playing against ten men. The Phoenix Suns’ spirited initial earned them a close loss, by just four points. When they met again 12 days later, the Thunder won by 49. This game signaled the definitive end and ushered in the cold season 10 days prematurely. Oklahoma City looked capable of shredding any opponent in its path, even the 2016 Golden State Warriors’ fabled regular season record of 73-9.

Debating Their Approach

The Thunder do not play a particularly appealing brand of basketball. They adeptly leverage the officials' dilemma over which fouls to call (a constant whistle interrupts the flow of the game, an missing one lets players get away with clear violations), often leading to Gilgeous-Alexander taking foul shots after calls that would be better swallowed, while personified pest Alex Caruso seems to have total license to do anything he likes on defense. Some claim to appreciate, Gilgeous-Alexander twisting his body to elicit slight touches from defenders; I can only presume those same people also like being struck hard between the legs. That’s not to mention physical force Dort flying off his feet and into opponents after many questionably minimal touches. This chicanery allows critics to cling to the fantasy that in a world with perfect officiating, the Thunder would be a average team. True basketball heads know it’s far more irritating than essential to the Thunder’s success, but the overall irritation is enough to nudge some fans who might otherwise be uncommitted into supporting Oklahoma City’s defeat.

Dominance can be fascinating in its ruthlessness to watch, but a all-time dominant performance tends to inspire reduced amazement the more times it recurs. How many times does anybody really want to watch one team beat another by 35? In the end you remember that the intrigue is the point. The Thunder were draining the season of excitement, accumulating leads on other teams in the table as well as on the court.

The San Antonio Response

Through the first half of the first quarter of the first Spurs-Thunder game this season, San Antonio was down by 16 and appeared destined to go the same route as every other team. Instead, they have unleashed chaos on the Thunder ever since.

Against the Spurs, the Thunder look mortal. Each member of their starting lineup deserves considerable credit for that, but this is Victor Wembanyama’s team, and the Thunder know it. “There’s this guy on their team that’s seven-foot-five and takes up a lot of space on the court,” Williams remarked, with some frustration, when asked what made the Spurs such a hard team to beat. The Thunder’s lanky center, 7'1" Chet Holmgren, is the biggest player on the floor in most games, able to secure boards and block opposing shots. Next to Wemby, he’s smaller, less refined, and even hesitant. Wembanyama’s disregard for Holmgren is evident in how he celebrates each time Holmgren misses a free throw, as though he’s hit the jackpot; the way he fouls him with a bit of extra venom; the way he told reporters he does not view Holmgren a competitor. (There is indeed no question over which player is better.) At this rate Holmgren must expect Wemby to burst out of the cupboard, trash-talking, when he reaches up for a bite to eat.

Holiday Domination

The Spurs led by Wembanyama made their most authoritative statement yet on Christmas, thumping the Thunder by 15 on their home floor. San Antonio withstood the customary early surge well yet again, recovering to drop 41 points on the league’s best defense in the first quarter. De'Aaron Fox effortlessly found the tiny holes in that defense to the total of 29 points. The Spurs even restricted SGA to a year-low 22. He tried to offset it by zipping passes to uncontested teammates behind the arc, but they disappointed by bricking almost every single attempt.

A Thunder optimist would say that a sufficient number of those long-range shots will go in next time to produce a win or a tighter loss, but I found the misses revealing of a flaw. Off the foundation of his silky-smooth stepback jumper, SGA is the steadiest scoring engine in the league. He is challenging to guard and impossible to stop. But even he can’t carry an offense entirely on his own. The Spurs put Gilgeous-Alexander under sufficient duress that he had to distribute more than usual, and his supporting parts broke down under the greater burden. Caruso and Dort are good for the occasional three-pointer, but relying on them to make the long shot is the worst scenario the Thunder want to be.

Shifting the Balance

The Spurs’ ascent couldn’t have come at a more perfect time. Not only have they decisively cemented themselves as title contenders – but they’ve enabled fans to see the Thunder in {higher definition|sharper focus|