Monday night, the OKC Thunder fell to the San Antonio Spurs by a final score of 122-115 in what was an epic opener to the Western Conference Finals.
Though this may have served as Oklahoma City's first loss of the postseason, superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is here to remind fans, and perhaps even his own teammates, for that matter, that this is far from the first time the club has been in an 0-1 hole.
Following the game, the two-time MVP told reporters, "We've been in this situation before, so the feeling really isn't new."
Of course, Gilgeous-Alexander is almost certainly referring to last year's playoff run, in which they not only lost their opening game against the Nuggets in the conference semis but also against the Pacers in the NBA Finals.
As everyone should be well aware, in the end, neither of these losses proved detrimental in the Thunder's push to win their first title. Instead, they merely elongated the road to achieving such a goal.
Here in 2026, the hope is that this will prove to be the case yet again.
Thunder have a lot to be encourage about despite loss to Spurs
Though losing homecourt advantage right out of the gate is far from ideal, the fact of the matter is, Oklahoma City has a lot to be encouraged about, even after their Game 1 loss to the Spurs
For starters, even with Victor Wembanyama's historic 41-point, 24-rebound performance, the Thunder still managed to make the whole of San Antonio appear somewhat pedestrian, as they were held to just 42.7 percent shooting from the floor and 30.2 percent shooting from deep while being forced into a whopping 21 turnovers.
OKC, meanwhile, saw Jalen Williams deliver on his promise to return from his hamstring strain healthy, wrapping with 26 points, seven boards, three assists, and two stocks, and Alex Caruso put forth the best postseason performance of his career with 31 points on 57.1 percent shooting from deep while playing remarkable defense, including against Wembanyama, throughout
Add all of this to the fact that, despite cold nights from both Chet Holmgren (eight points on 28.6 percent shooting from the floor) and, to a lesser extent, Gilgeous-Alexander (24 points and four turnovers on 30.4 percent shooting), it took a ridiculous, Stephen Curry-range shot from Wemby late in the first overtime to hold them back from pulling away with a win is certainly encouraging.
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