For the first time in four tries, the OKC Thunder finally got the best of the San Antonio Spurs in 2025-26, beating their budding rivals 119-98 on Tuesday night.
For Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, one main factor paved the way for this long-awaited outcome.
During his post-game interview with NBA on NBC, the reigning MVP was asked, "What was different?" about this most recent outing against San Antonio compared to their previous matchups that helped pave the way to victory.
Quickly, he mentioned how they were able to string together stops when needed, and specifically highlighted that "the key" to it all was their ability to limit the Spurs' transition offense.
"Since the first time in Vegas, since the first half of that game, we weren't able to get stops, keep them in front of us, [and] keep them out of transition. Tonight we did that, that's the key. Every team knows when we get set and play defense, it's pretty hard to score on us," Gilgeous-Alexander said.
Limiting Spurs' transition offense was 'the key' to Thunder win
Looking back on their previous bouts against San Antonio, Gilgeous-Alexander's point on how limiting transition offensive opportunities served an integral role in Tuesday's outcome becomes all the more clear.
Their last two face-offs saw the Spurs record 19 and 17 fast-break points compared to only five and seven scored by Oklahoma City, while averaging 17.3 compared to OKC's 11.7 over their last three games combined.
In their latest exhibition, the Thunder clearly turned the heat up on both ends of the floor in this department, as they outscored San Antonio 11 to seven in such sets.
Now, despite boasting the fifth-best offensive punch in the entire association this season, Oklahoma City is far from a fearsome bunch when it comes to their transition game, as they rank in with the 11-fewest possessions, ninth-lowest frequency, and a middling 16-fewest points per game averages when it comes to such sets.
Fortunately for them, with superstar Gilgeous-Alexander (29 points) leading the charge, this dynasty-pushing ball club finally ended their losing streak against the Spurs due, in large part, to an uptick in emphasis on scoring out on the break and to once again displaying their league-best transition defense.
Despite being a team that primarily hangs its hat on effort on the less glamorous side of the ball, over these past few weeks of action, it's become painfully obvious that, without an offensive attack of a similar magnitude, the Thunder have struggled to stay afloat.
With their play against San Antonio, they reminded both the league and themselves just how dominant they can be when they're clicking on both ends of the floor, and why they're the odds-on favorite to become the first back-to-back champion since 2018.