San Antonio and Oklahoma City each won 60-plus games in the regular season leading up to the playoffs clash.
SAN ANTONIO — The San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder were a cut above their fellow Western Conference hoopers during the regular season, each wining at least 60 games en route to locking down the top two seeds.
Now the conference’s best will clash for the right to play in the 2026 NBA Finals against either the New York Knicks or Cleveland Cavaliers.
San Antonio went 4-1 against Oklahoma City during the regular season as a new NBA rivalry that will potentially define the league’s next decade continues taking shape. The squads have combined for an 16-3 playoffs record; the Thunder have beaten opponents by an average margin of 16.6 points, the Spurs by 14.5.
Further adding to the drama are the newly revealed results of this year’s MVP vote: Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander retained his belt from last year while San Antonio’s ascendant superstar Victor Wembanyama, the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year, finished third in MVP voting.
Games 1 and 2 are in Oklahoma City before the series shifts to San Antonio. See the full series schedule here.
Read on for live updates from the game, which tips off at 7:30 p.m. CT on NBC and Peacock.
1Q, 4:18 remaining: Spurs 15, Thunder 12
After the Spurs went up 12-3, Alex Caruso made two straight layups, one over Wemby, resulting in a Spurs timeout. Caruso now has the first seven points for Oklahoma City.
Keldon Johnson stopped the bleeding with a 3-pointer fresh off the bench making the score 15-9.
Caruso hit another 3-pointer making him the first player to hit double digits in the game with 10.
1Q, 7:28 remaining: Spurs 11, Thunder 3
Stephon Castle continued his hot shooting from Game 6 of the Timberwolves series, draining his first three pointer for the first points of the series.
Four points from Victor Wembanyama helped put the Spurs up 7-0 before an Alex Caruso 3-pointer. Julian Champagnie responded with a 3-pointer of his own putting the Spurs up 10-3 with about eight minutes left in the first quarter.
The Thunder missed six of their first seven shots to start the game before the first timeout, one of those being blocked emphatically by Devin Vassell doing his best Wemby impression.
Pregame
Shortly before tipoff, the Spurs announced that De’Aaron Fox will miss the game as he deals with right ankle soreness; the 28-year-old All-Star point guard is third on the team in scoring this postseason, with 18.8 points a game, and second in assists with 5.8 per matchup.
Starting in his place will be rookie Dylan Harper, who is averaging 13.7 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game while coming off the bench.
Luke Kornet, the backup center previously listed as questionable, is available to play.
This is a developing story.