Over the past few weeks, the idea that the San Antonio Spurs are one of the biggest threats to a repeat title run for the OKC Thunder has gained significant steam.
In fact, some, such as ESPN's Alan Hahn believe them to be the biggest.
Now, while many automatically look to Victor Wembanyama as the leading factor in this growing narrative, Brian Windhorst actually is under the impression that it's San Antonio's backcourt that makes them a troubling matchup for the Thunder.
Spurs backcourt tabbed as a real threat to Thunder repeat hopes
It's undeniable that the Thunder have struggled mightily against the Spurs this season, losing four of their five matchups and being outscored by double digits in three of those losses.
It's also an inarguable fact that during these outings, Wembanyama has played lights out basketball, dropping averages of 18.4 points, 9.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 1.2 blocks on 52.4 percent shooting from the floor and a ridiculous 62.5 percent shooting from deep in just 25.1 minutes a night.
However, during a recent edition of The Big Number Podcast, Windhorst made his case for why guys like De'Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, and Devin Vassell have been the true difference-makers in these particular outings.
"It's what the Spurs' backcourt can do to the Thunder. Maybe more accurately... how they can handle the way the Thunder attack you which is to come at you in waves and to try to basically force you into mistakes. With three excellent ball-handlers that can play both ends, the hand that they're holding is particularly strong against Oklahoma City," Windhorst said.
As the NBA Insider insinuated, Oklahoma City's approach, particularly on the defensive end, is to inundate an opposing team's ball handlers and try to force them into turnovers.
Clearly, this action plan has worked wonders for the Thunder 56 games into 2025-26, as they rank fourth in total steals (547) and first in total forced turnovers (952). Considering they have pesky perimeter talents like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Lu Dort, Cason Wallace, and Alex Caruso leading the charge at guard, this level of productivity shouldn't come as a shock to anyone.
What may be surprising, however, is the fact that through all four losses, the Spurs were forced into committing the fifth-fewest turnovers among teams that have bested OKC, while, on the year as a whole, the Spurs have allowed the second-fewest points off of turnovers (831) and commit the fifth-fewest turnovers on average (13.7).
Now, granted, we would be remiss if we didn't mention that Wallace is the only one of the aforementioned bunch to play every single game against the Spurs this season, with all three of Dort, Caruso, and Gilgeous-Alexander missing their most recent, highly controversial bout earlier this month.
On top of this, even Windhorst acknowledged in his spiel that the Thunder have been marred by injuries for the vast majority of this year's campaign, and that, based on current information, the expectation is that all of their key players should be ready to suit up come the the postseason, so one should take the findings from these past matchups with a grain of salt.
Nevertheless, San Antonio has undoubtedly earned the right to be seen as a serious danger to Oklahoma City's repeat hopes this year, and the reasons for this go well beyond just Wembanyama.