It only feels right, doesn’t it? The two teams in line to dominate the league for the coming years are set to meet on the biggest stage to pen the first chapter of what may become a historic rivalry.
These two sides have been the class of the league, finishing with the two best regular-season records and possessing the top two net ratings. And for many across the NBA, it’s a terrifying proposition that two of the youngest cores in the league look this promising this early on in their window for contention. But luckily for those 28 other teams, only one can advance to the NBA Finals.
And with the international flair on display for both sides, the series could be a World Expo of sorts, highlighting the latest and greatest innovations in a sport evolving at a mind-bending pace. The future is now.
Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the first showdown in what projects to be a rivalry for years to come.
(1) Oklahoma City Thunder vs. (2) San Antonio Spurs
Season series: Spurs win 4-1
Series schedule (all times ET):Game 1: San Antonio at Oklahoma City, Mon. May 18 at 8:30 p.m.Game 2: San Antonio at Oklahoma City, Wed. May 20 at 8:30 p.m.Game 3: Oklahoma City at San Antonio, Fri. May 22 at 8:30 p.m.Game 4: Oklahoma City at San Antonio, Sun. May 24 at 8 p.m.*Game 5: San Antonio at Oklahoma City, Tues. May 26 at 8:30 p.m.*Game 6: Oklahoma City at San Antonio, Thurs. May 28 at 8:30 p.m.*Game 7: San Antonio at Oklahoma City, Sat. May 30 at 8 p.m.
The Thunder have looked near unstoppable as they push to become the first repeat NBA champs since the Golden State Warriors in 2017 and 2018, coasting to an 8-0 playoff record with breezy sweeps of the Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Lakers.
OKC has rocked its opposition, winning games by an average of 16.7 points, surpassing its regular-season mark of 11.1 per game. Though the defence hasn’t been on par with regular-season numbers, as the team carries a 110.2 rating into the Conference Finals, the offence has hit another gear with a 127.8 rating, the highest mark in NBA history over a playoff run.
Sure, the eight-seed Suns and a Luka Doncic-less Lakers squad doesn’t shape up as the toughest competition out there, but you need to beat who’s in front of you, and the Thunder haven’t just beat them, they’ve annihilated them.
Gilgeous-Alexander, who captured his second straight MVP on Sunday, has been the picture of efficiency, carving up opposing sides with a 63.1 true-shooting percentage despite his steady diet of contested mid-range jumpers and acrobatic at-rim finishes. That mark is the fifth-highest all-time among guards to score at least 25 per game in at least eight games in a single playoff run, and SGA is the only person on the list to shoot fewer than five threes per game.
Couple his offensive prowess with the rim protection and spacing of Chet Holmgren, the secondary creation and scoring of Jalen Williams, and the continued breakout of sophomore guard Ajay Mitchell, and it’s hard to fathom anything getting in the way of a second championship.
With all the talk of tanking this season, it’s important to note that, frankly, tanking has rarely truly created a contender.
Well, unless you’re the San Antonio Spurs.
Four years ago, the Spurs embarked on the tank of a lifetime — actually, the second of their lifetime after lucking out in 1997 to nab Tim Duncan — in an effort to grab Victor Wembanyama. Then they did it again to secure Stephon Castle. Then they did it again to get Dylan Harper, although the lottery balls did fall in their favour.
Rarely has tanking worked as well as it has for San Antonio, which is now positioned to be the preemptive force — other than the Thunder — in the league for years to come. But their window wasn’t supposed to be open this early, not when a single member of that trio has yet to sign even their rookie extensions.
The Spurs have drafted incredibly well, saw how good Wembanyama would be even at a young age, and have done their best to build a contending team around him. Rarely do top picks have the privilege of contending this quickly, but rarely are players as gifted as Wembanyama, and rarely are front offices as well-managed as the Spurs.
Back in the playoffs for the first time since 2019, the Spurs look like they never left, powering through the Portland Trail Blazers in five and the giant-killing Minnesota Timberwolves in six. The old thought process is that a team needs to earn its battle scars before truly contending in the post-season, but the Spurs are far from traditional. Old rules don’t apply to a team led by a player set on breaking every convention in the NBA like Wembanyama.
Thunder: Can Jalen Williams overcome injury concerns?
What may have cemented Gilgeous-Alexander’s second MVP nod is perhaps that the Thunder were just as successful as last season despite a poor run of health, having battled through the third-most team games missed due to injuries. Much of that stems from the absence of All-NBA wing Jalen Williams, who suited up for only 33 regular-season contests this year.
More impressive is that the Thunder have mostly cruised to a perfect record in the playoffs without Williams, as the 25-year-old only played in Games 1 and 2 of the first round after suffering a hamstring strain. He’s listed as available heading into the series, but if he has to play at a fraction of his powers, the Spurs may take advantage of it.
Though Williams hasn’t fared well against San Antonio this year, averaging 16.5 points, 3.8 rebounds and 5.3 assists, the Thunder will need all the help they can get to relieve the pressure defenders like Castle will put on Gilgeous-Alexander. The Thunder have a 121.6 offensive rating with Williams and a 117.1 rating without, not a stark difference, but every little bit counts against San Antonio.
Spurs: Will Wembanyama take the MVP loss personally?
Only a few years into what projects to be a decorated career, Wembanyama has unfortunately formed a habit of coming second. He came onto the scene in 2021 at the FIBA U19 World Cup but lost to Chet Holmgren and the U.S. in the gold-medal game, he was unable to defend home court in the gold-medal game against the States at the Paris Olympics in 2024, he lost to the New York Knicks in the NBA Cup final this season, and most recently, he lost to Gilgeous-Alexander in MVP voting.
Another habit he’s formed, however, is not taking those losses lightly. No player has shown as much emotion as the 22-year-old this season, and no player seems more willing to don the cape as the face of the league. He’ll just have to snatch it from the best player in basketball, as selected by award voters.
While there’s no love in Wembanyama’s heart for the Thunder — he seems to take a special degree of pride squaring off against Holmgren — The Extraterrestrial hasn’t been the guiding force in the Spurs’ wins over OKC this year, having averaged only 18.4 points, 9.2 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in five games. But with another chip on his shoulder after losing MVP to SGA, and after a couple impressive showings against Minnesota in Round 2, expect Wembanyama to play harder than ever.
More impressive than Thunder GM Sam Presti acquiring his haul of draft picks over the years is his ability to identify the perfect talent to use those selections on. Mitchell, a Belgian sophomore out of UC Santa Barbara who averaged only 6.5 points in 36 games last season, has been one of OKC’s most important pieces in the absence of Williams. The 23-year-old averaged 13.6 points in the regular season, but has turned it up a level in the playoffs with 18.8 per game as a key secondary ball-handler and point-of-attack defender.
Though his usage might go down with Williams back in the lineup, the Thunder’s ability to pull a guy like him out of their back pocket should they need him over the course of a seven-game series is perplexing. OKC did a great job last year of using its depth, and expect the same this go-around, spearheaded by one of this season’s most out-of-nowhere breakouts.
There is no more important task in this series than shutting down Gilgeous-Alexander, and Castle will be San Antonio’s go-to guy for just that. He did an incredible job of it in the regular season, holding the MVP to 24 points in 109.9 partial possessions and an unseemly 31.6 per cent from the field.
If the Thunder want to force the switch and get the bigger-bodied Williams on him, Castle has also shown a proficiency for guarding up, having recently shut down Julius Randle in the second round and holding him to only 16 points in 133.9 partial possessions and 32 per cent from the field. If the Spurs’ No. 1-rated playoff defence were a sword, Wembanyama would be the hilt holding it up, but Castle would be the blade thrust at the opposition. He’ll need to be as sharp as ever against OKC.
