The NBA narrative could change in the blink of an eye. Just two weeks ago, the Oklahoma City Thunder were undoubtedly the best team in the league. Rumors of a 73-win season are getting louder. People are beginning to question whether the team should go all out now or wait for the defending NBA champions to age out.
Now, Thunder haters and doubters are getting the best Christmas gift ever — actual on-court results that show the Thunder are human. None of this is supposed nonsense or made-up talk. Actual gameplay footage reveals a weak spot in their indestructible armor, like the Death Star.
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The San Antonio Spurs have become the Thunder’s kryptonite. For the first time since becoming a championship contender, the Thunder lost three consecutive games to the same opponent. Each time, they performed worse against teams with the same basketball model — even though they were younger, faster, more athletic, and arguably hungrier.
Let’s take a look back at the past two weeks.
In the first game of the NBA Cup semifinals, the Thunder lost to the Spurs 111-109. Disturbing, sure, but nothing to worry about. The neutral site in Las Vegas creates some weird situations that won’t happen the rest of the season.
The second game was a bit of a shocker. The Thunder lost to Festeves 130-110. Of course, this is the second night of a home-and-away back-to-back, but several Thunder starters missed the first night and entered San Antonio fresh.
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It doesn’t matter. The Thunder suffered their worst loss of the season. For reference, their first three games were lost by a combined nine points. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander did enough to secure the victory, but Jaylen Williams and Chet Holmgren were outplayed by their opponents and a number of other San Antonio role players — a troubling theme in this game.
On Christmas Day, the alarm bells rang. The Thunder are full of motivation and energy. Aside from the fact that this was the team’s first Christmas game, they wanted revenge on a team that had humiliated them less than 48 hours earlier. Staying at home can also bring about a spiritual boost. The Thunder have been a winning machine in their home arena, having not lost at home since Game 1 of the 2025 NBA Finals.
Early on, the Thunder looked like the defending NBA champions. Williams reaches his mid-range spot. Holmgren is an active scorer. But like Michael Myers, the Spurs are keeping the pace behind the scenes. Finally, they once again broke through the Thunder’s league’s best defense like old-school Big 12 football.
The game became uncompetitive in the second half. Thunder fans filed out and the Spurs took over in the final seconds. A 117-102 loss officially turned this from a couple of bad, excusable nights into a real problem. Williams and Holmgren failed again.
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As the NBA world scrambles to catch up to the Spurs’ performance, the Thunder will have to remember these three games for the remainder of the 2025-26 regular season. They can salvage the season series by playing two more games on Jan. 13 in Oklahoma City and Feb. 4 in San Antonio.
But even if the Thunder win both games, the Spurs have already won the season series. Factor in the Thunder likely going 65-plus wins, and you’re stuck with three losses at the hands of the same team for the rest of the year until proven otherwise.
The Thunder have few interesting storylines for the remainder of the regular season. Sure, they could win 65-plus games and claim the No. 1 seed again, but their performance in the playoffs will ultimately determine the success or failure of their season.
You might sit there and argue – duh. This is true for every team. But no other team has the historical pressure to win this season like the Thunder. They have been considered the defending champions for the past six months. Every time you listen to a Nationwide podcast or read an ESPN article, Oklahoma City is in a league of its own.
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But now things have changed. This is well deserved. As Gilgeous-Alexander said, you don’t lose to the same team three times in a row and they are better than you. Of course, the playoffs are another story. The Spurs haven’t been tested there yet. We’ll see how they perform in that environment — whether or not they play the Thunder in a playoff series.
But the past two weeks have shown that back-to-back games are not a foregone conclusion for the Thunder. This is a huge win for the rest of the NBA. The Spurs look to be a nightmare matchup. This will hang like a dark cloud over the Thunder for the remainder of the 2025-26 regular season.
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Spurs will hover above OKC Thunder for remainder of 2025-26 season
