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.
End of regulation: Spurs 101, Thunder 101
Chet Holmgren blocked Victor Wembanyama’s potential game-winning shot to send the game to overtime.
4Q, 0:03 remaining: Spurs 101, Thunder 101
Shai Gilegous-Alexander hit a layup to tie the game at 101 with three seconds left.
4Q, 0:11 remaining: Spurs 101, Thunder 99
Victor Wembanyama hit a paint floater to give the Spurs the lead with 11 seconds left. He has a game-leading 27 points.
4Q, 0:33 remaining: Spurs 99, Thunder 99
Shai Gilegous-Alexander is fouled on a layup and ties the game at the free throw line.
4Q, 0:37 remaining: Spurs 99, Thunder 97
With no time on the play clock, Dylan Harper is fouled on a jumper to go to the free throw line. The rookie nailed both free throws to put the Spurs up two with 37 seconds left.
4Q, 0:53 remaining: Spurs 97, Thunder 97
Alex Caruso’s layup over Wemby cut the lead to one. He has a Thunder-leading 24 points.
Vassell’s third 3-pointer gave the Spurs a 4-point cushion until Shai hits a patented midrange jumper.
Caruso hit his seventh three pointer to give the Thunder the lead 95-94. His seven threes are tied for a career high. He also has a playoff career-high 27 points.
Julian Champagnie answered with his own three to put the Spurs up two.
The game is tied at 97 with a Jalen Williams layup.
4Q, 3:52 remaining: Spurs 91, Thunder 88
The Spurs lead is cut to five following a Gilgeous-Alexander and-one, giving the MVP 14 points on the game.
A Jalen Williams mid-range jumper cut the lead to three with four minutes left. he has 19.
4Q, 7:30 remaining: Spurs 89, Thunder 80
The fourth quarter started with a Keldon Johnson 3-pointer to give the Spurs a 10-point lead.
Dylan Harper recorded his sixth steal of the game which resulted in a Wemby bucket to give him 23 points. Harper’s sixth steal tied a Spurs playoff record.
Caruso proceeded to hit his sixth 3-pointer of the game, one off from his career high.
A turnaround jumper from Harper put the Spurs up nine.
End of 3Q: Spurs 80, Thunder 73
A pair of Wemby free throws gave the lead back to the Spurs. A Julian Champagnie 3-pointer put them back up four.
Two Dylan Harper layups put the Spurs up five and gave the rookie making his first playoff start 13 points.
A contested Vassell midrange jumpshot put the Spurs up by eight with about a minute and a half left in the quarter.
Gilgeous-Alexander nails his second three-pointer giving him 10 points on 3-10 shooting. He currently has a -13 plus/minus.
Alex Caruso hit his fifth 3-pointer to give him 19 points. Devin Vassell answered that with a 3-pointer of his own to end the third quarter.
The deficit of seven is the same as the halftime deficit.
3Q, 7:46 remaining: Spurs 57, Thunder 58
Dylan Harper started the second half off with a steal and layup making the score 53-44.
Jalen Williams responded with an and-one cutting the lead to six. Chet Holmgren hit his second 3-pointer of the game cutting it to three.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander hit a 3-pointer (only his second field goal of the game) cutting it to two. Lu Dort hit first 3-pointer of the game giving the Thunder their first lead since the first quarter.
Halftime: Spurs 51, Thunder 44
A steal from the Thunder resulted in a Jared McCain layup that cut the Spurs lead to three.
Wemby scored four straight points making the score 48-41 with a minute left in the half. Vassell hit his second 3-pointer to put the Spurs up 10, giving the Thunder their first double-digit deficit in the playoffs.
A Chet Holmgren 3-pointer cut the Spurs’ lead to seven going into halftime.
The Spurs are shooting 41.9% from the field while the Thunder are shooting 37.2%. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has four points and is only 1-5 from the field.
Wemby has 14 points and 10 rebounds while Stephon Castle has 11 points.
2Q, 5:37 remaining: Spurs 42, Thunder 35
A 3-pointer from Caruso stopped an 8-0 Spurs run.
A Wembanyama dunk gave him a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Caruso hit his fourth 3-pointer of the game giving him 16 early points.
2Q, 9:09 remaining: Spurs 36, Thunder 29
The Spurs started the second quarter by hitting three 3-pointers in a row: first by Keldon Johnson, then by Carter Bryant and finally by Dylan Harper to put the Spurs up 36-29, forcing an Oklahoma City timeout.
End of 1Q: Spurs 27, Thunder 27
Jalen Williams scored six straight points to give the Thunder their first lead of the game. A Jared McCain layup put Oklahoma City up 20-17.
Stephon Castle stopped the bleeding by completing an and-one but missed the free throw.
Dylan Harper gave the Spurs the lead back by hitting two free throws, making the score 23-22.
Cason Wallace drained a 3-pointer putting OKC up 25-23 before Wemby put back a Dylan Harper layup, tying the game.
Harper made his next layup putting the Spurs up two, but a pair of free throws from Jalen Williams tied the game at 27 as the first quarter came to a close.
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 of OKC’s 12 points.
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.