I’ve seen enough: Give the San Antonio Spurs the control to Father Christmas's elf headquarters. Place Stephon Castle in charge of present construction. Let De’Aaron Fox throw gifts into chimneys, from any range he’d like. Devin Vassell can design the festive biscuits. Barnes has the troop of elves covered. And, of course, the sleigh's ride must immediately be altered for a taller, thinner pilot so that the immense Wemby can navigate it comfortably.
The sensational San Antonio squad have defeated the OKC three times in a fortnight, and in doing so have breathed new life into this basketball campaign. I now have more faith in the Spurs’ ability to bestow happiness to the audience than any festive tales of old.
A Grim Beginning
It appeared grim for a spell. The Thunder might have secured the title in June, but began this season in increasingly threatening form. They strung together 24 wins in their opening 25 matchups (the lone loss was a fluky 20-point rally). In the bulk of those games, Jalen Williams, their next best player, was on the sidelines recovering from wrist surgery. SGA, their top player, hardly ever had to play in the final period. The Thunder routed the Kings by 31. The Lakers, who some predicted to be a possible rival, lost by 29; their offensive genius Luka Doncic appeared as if he was playing against ten men. The Phoenix Suns’ valiant first got them a close loss, by just four points. When they played a rematch 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 seemed poised to shredding anything in its path, even the Warriors' historic regular season record of 73-9.
A Question of Style
The Thunder are not known for a especially appealing style of basketball. They adeptly leverage the officials' problem over which infractions to call (a steady whistle breaks the pace of the game, an inconsistent one lets players escape punishment for clear violations), often resulting in SGA shooting foul shots after whistles that would be left uncalled, while embodied pest Caruso seems to have free rein to do whatever he likes on the defensive end. Some say they admire, SGA maneuvering his body to elicit slight contact from defenders; I can only assume those same people also like being struck hard in a sensitive area. That’s not to mention man-mountain Luguentz Dort launching off his feet and into opponents after plenty of questionably slight touches. This tactics allows critics to cling to the idea that in a world with flawless officiating, the Thunder would be a middling team. Genuine hoops purists know it’s far more annoying than fundamental to the Thunder’s success, but the widespread annoyance is enough to nudge some fans who might otherwise be uncommitted into supporting Oklahoma City’s downfall.
Dominance can be fascinating in its ruthlessness to watch, but a record-setting performance tends to evoke less awe the more times it repeats. 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 sapping the season of excitement, running up leads on other teams in the standings as well as on the floor.
The San Antonio Response
Through 21 minutes of the initial San Antonio vs. OKC game this season, San Antonio trailed by 16 and seemed poised 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 immense credit for that, but this is Wemby's team, and the Thunder know it. “There’s this man on their team that’s 7'5" and commands a lot of space on the court,” Jalen Williams remarked, with some irritation, when asked what made the Spurs such a tough out. The Thunder’s tall defender, 7ft 1in Chet Holmgren, is the tallest player on the floor in most games, at liberty to secure boards and reject opposing shots. Next to Wemby, he’s short, unpolished, and even timid. Victor's disregard for Holmgren is apparent in how he celebrates each time Chet misses a free throw, as though he’s scored a major victory; the way he commits a foul on him with a bit of unnecessary force; the way he told reporters he refuses to acknowledge Holmgren a rival. (There is indeed no question over which player is better.) At this rate Holmgren must expect Wemby to burst out of the pantry, taunting, when he stretches for a bite to eat.
Holiday Domination
Wembanyama and the Spurs made their most definitive statement yet on Christmas, thumping the Thunder by 15 on their home floor. San Antonio took the customary early punch well yet again, bouncing back to score 41 points on the league’s stingiest defense in the first quarter. Fox seamlessly found the tiny holes in that defense to the sum of 29 points. The Spurs even restricted Gilgeous-Alexander to a year-low 22. He attempted to offset it by zipping passes to uncontested teammates behind the arc, but they disappointed by bricking almost every single attempt.
A Thunder believer would say that a sufficient number of those threes will go in in the future to produce a victory or a tighter loss, but I found the misses revealing of a weakness. Off the strength of his effortless stepback jumper, Gilgeous-Alexander is the most consistent scoring force in the league. He is difficult to guard and impossible to stop. But even he can’t bear an offense solely on his own. The Spurs put Gilgeous-Alexander under enough pressure that he had to delegate more than usual, and his supporting parts broke down under the greater burden. Dort and Caruso are good for the sporadic three-pointer, but relying on them to make the three-ball is the worst scenario the Thunder want to be.
The New Landscape
The Spurs’ rise couldn’t have come at a more opportune time. Not only have they emphatically established themselves as title contenders – but they’ve allowed fans to see the Thunder in {higher definition|sharper focus|
