Thursday afternoon, the OKC Thunder dropped their fifth game of the 2025-26 season, the third time in which one has come at the hands of the San Antonio Spurs.
The storylines surrounding these two Western Conference rivals seem to be doubling by the day. From being ousted in the NBA Cup semifinal to, now, getting bested on Christmas Day, it appears this once unstoppable force in the Thunder may have finally found its kryptonite.
Of course, perhaps the scariest part of all this is that while the Spurs have been absolutely dominating OKC, their superstar, Victor Wembanyama, has been held back by a minutes restriction in every game played so far this season.
Spurs undefeated vs Thunder even with Wemby on minutes restriction
After losing the wunderkind big man halfway through last season as a result of deep vein thrombosis, and then again for roughly a month earlier this year due to a calf injury, San Antonio has been tending to their prized franchise cornerstone with kid gloves.
With his recent return to action, the Spurs have decided to ease Wembanyama back into the swing of things, placing him on a sub-22 minutes-per-game restriction.
With him back in the fold, the ball club finds itself amid a six game win-streak and are blowing by their opponents with a point differential of +16.8 along the way.
Three of these wins have come against the reigning champion and current top-seeded Thunder, where they are posting 119.3 points and 11.6 stocks per contest while shooting a highly efficient 50.4 percent from the floor and averaging a point differential of +12.3.
Wembanyama, meanwhile, has yet to start a single game or surpass even 26 minutes played and is still leading the charge with a plus-minus of +15.7 while dropping a stellar stat line of 17.7 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and a block on 53.1 percent shooting from the floor and 80.0 percent shooting from deep.
On Christmas, while logging just under 26 minutes once more, he posted 19 points, 11 rebounds, two assists, and two stocks on 50.0 percent shooting from the field and 66.7 percent shooting from deep.
Clearly, even at less than full strength, this Spurs squad is giving the Thunder a level of trouble that no other team in the association has yet matched.
The frightening truth about this is the fact that, once they get healthy and Wemby gets the green light to roam free without any restrictions, this already too hard to handle San Antonio team will presumably become even more problematic for OKC during their quest for a repeat.