OKLAHOMA CITY — The final Spurs timeout of an emphatic 117-102 Christmas Day win, with a little over a minute left to play and the game already decided, was the most prominent.
Thirty seconds earlier, Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault had recalled his starters, resigned to the reality Oklahoma City was mere moments away from their third defeat to San Antonio in less than a fortnight.
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So as Spurs two-way forward David Jones García strolled on the floor with 72 seconds remaining, emphatically waving a white towel in the direction of the downtrodden Thunder bench and thrusting it side-to-side as if he was disciplining them, the significance was clear. And it didn’t matter that the courier in one of the season’s most important games was a player with more minutes spent at baggage claim than on the floor. There was no more escaping or denying not only the presence of a rivalry, but a forced entry into the contender’s lair.
Belt to ass. A lesson. A reminder. A message.
“You don’t lose to a team three times in a row in a short span without them being better than you,” Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said following the game. “We have to get better, look in the mirror, and that’s everybody from top to bottom.”
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For all the glitz, grit and glamor the Thunder possess — reigning champions, home to the MVP, owners of the best record in the NBA — they have been reminded on multiple occasions by the Spurs the distance that separates them is closing, not widening.
Just a few weeks ago, Oklahoma City was 24-1, revered and feared from coast to coast. The Thunder’s path to June and a repeat seemed as clear as the water that flows in the Great Barrier Reef. Heading into the new year, as asinine as it would be to have the Thunder as anything other than the clear-cut favorites, the rapid emergence of San Antonio has forced a recalibration of sorts.
It won’t be so easy.
That’s what made Thursday afternoon so poignant. From the opening tip, this wasn’t just a regular December game. On a day that could have been billed as a conference final opener, the grappling match between ethics and analytics was fascinating, with the Thunder hell-bent on making their physicality the main character and the Spurs comfortable with adjusting to what was being presented to them. Each time Gilgeous-Alexander or Jalen Williams attempted to bother Victor Wembanyama with force, San Antonio responded with fluidity.
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What makes the Spurs different is also what makes them bold; an array of smart point-of-attack defenders (who blitz you at the other end) that trust the very large Frenchman behind them to deter, clean up and destroy. San Antonio refused to yield space to Oklahoma City’s ball-handlers, mucking up the middle and forcing action to the perimeter. Add everything up — a rejuvenated De’Aaron Fox (who led all scorers with 29 points), holding Gilgeous-Alexander to just 22 points on 19 shots and 33 missed Thunder 3s — and you have yourself a recipe for success. Over and over and over again.
“I think we learned that when you play a team multiple times in short stretches, there’s a familiarity obviously that it breeds,” head coach Mitch Johnson said. “And when you play a team of this caliber, the details are that much more magnified, and I thought we did a phenomenal job as the game progressed at adhering to those details and nuances.”
Perhaps Oklahoma City (26-5), given all that it has accomplished in such a short time, isn’t yet at the point where it recognizes San Antonio as an actual rival. But the Spurs, who have attempted to downplay comparisons or get ahead of themselves, are built similarly. Both teams have been constructed by forward-thinking front offices that put as much stock into human meshing as on-court machinations. Both teams drafted well, place a plethora of trust in development and embrace their small-market mentality. Both teams have generational talents, quality role players and smart coaching on the sidelines.
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They’re also different.
“One thing that defines us is we’re going to try and use the weaknesses of other teams,” Wembanyama said. “We can use everybody on the court. We’re never going to let the talent of one guy take away from the collective. That’s what allows us to beat great teams like that.”
The initial (and sustained) decision to bring Wembanyama off the bench so as to keep his return from injury contained — all while not disrupting the harmony that the current starters have — is indicative of a win for the collective. The third-year center spoke about his mindset change in those instances, looking for impact over sheer counting stats. The championing of Stephon Castle, who has rapidly risen to the occasion as a bonafide defender, playmaker and scorer, is a reminder of the joys of youth. The sage wisdom and floor spacing of Harrison Barnes, who provides a unique glue that makes everything work, is an embracing of age and experience. This is a group that wasn’t created overnight but has an eye on a dynasty, years after the last one. Beating the best team in the NBA at this frequency in a short span of time isn’t definitive, but it damn sure feels good.
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“Our confidence has been at an all-time high for the majority of the season,” Castle said. “Obviously still a small sample size, but we’re definitely trending in the right direction.”
The state of current NBA online discourse almost shuns the regular season in favor of the postseason — discrediting accomplishments or events along the way until real games start. But building blocks and small steps matter.
San Antonio (23-7) is 2.5 games back of the best record in basketball, is sixth in offense and seventh in defense, per Cleaning the Glass, and has won eight straight, not counting the NBA Cup Final. The Spurs take and make smart shots (fourth in true shooting, fifth in effective field-goal percentage) and have had seven different players lead the team in scoring this month alone.
If that doesn’t scream contender from the mountains, maybe try another terrain.