The Oklahoma City Thunder have been the talk of the league this season - and for good reason. They burst out of the gate with a 20-1 record, looking every bit like a team ready to chase history.
The comparisons to the 2015-16 Warriors weren’t just media chatter; they were coming from inside the locker room. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the reigning MVP and the heart of this young, dynamic squad, didn’t shy away when asked if that 73-win mark meant something to him.
“Absolutely,” he said. “Winning matters.
And no matter what form it looks like to me. So absolutely.”
That’s the mindset of a team with ambition. But ambition, as history has shown us, doesn’t guarantee immunity from growing pains. And on Christmas Day, the Thunder ran into the same wall they’ve hit twice before this season - the San Antonio Spurs.
That’s now three times San Antonio has knocked off Oklahoma City in the same season. Three times Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs have taken the Thunder’s best shot and answered back with something better.
And this isn’t just about the final score. This is about a team - younger, less experienced, still learning how to carry the weight of expectations - getting outplayed by a group that seems to have cracked their code.
When a team beats you three times with the same roster, in the same season, it’s not a fluke. It’s a pattern.
And Gilgeous-Alexander, to his credit, didn’t dodge that reality. After the game, he acknowledged the uncomfortable truth: “If a team beats you three times with the same roster in the same season, they’re probably the better team.”
That’s not waving the white flag. That’s leadership.
That’s awareness. And it’s a critical step in the evolution of a contender.
The Thunder have all the ingredients of a championship team. They’re long, athletic, and defensively suffocating when locked in.
Their ball movement is crisp, their rotations are disciplined, and they’ve got a superstar in Gilgeous-Alexander who can bend a defense to his will. When they’re clicking, they look like the future of the league - and maybe even the present.
But what the Spurs have done is expose something deeper. Not a flaw in talent or scheme, but in experience.
The kind of experience that teaches you how to adapt when your strengths become predictable. The kind of experience that shows you how to win not just when you’re better, but when the other team knows exactly what’s coming and still dares you to beat them anyway.
This is the same lesson the 73-win Warriors had to learn the hard way. That season wasn’t undone by a lack of talent or effort - it was the weight of perfection.
The mental grind of every game becoming a referendum on legacy. Teams studied them, found their cracks, and slowly chipped away until the illusion of invincibility shattered.
The Thunder aren’t chasing 73 wins anymore - not after this. And that might be the best thing that could’ve happened to them.
Because championships aren’t won in December. They’re won in the spring, when the league has had months to study your film, dissect your tendencies, and prepare for every counterpunch.
That’s when the real version of a team shows up. And that’s when we’ll find out if OKC has more than just highlight reels and box score dominance - if they have the resilience to evolve.
And let’s not forget: it’s hard enough to beat a team twice in a row in this league. The Spurs have done it three times to a team that’s been steamrolling almost everyone else. That’s not just a matchup issue - that’s a message.
Meanwhile, the Warriors, the team whose ghost still lingers over this conversation, handled their own business on Christmas Day. They beat the Mavericks in another down-to-the-wire game, continuing their season-long trend of surviving the chaos of the Western Conference.
It wasn’t pretty, but it was gritty. And in this conference, that’s often what it takes.
So no, Christmas didn’t crown a champion. But it did offer a reminder.
The path to the top isn’t about chasing records. It’s about learning how to respond when someone figures you out.
Because eventually, someone always does.
The Thunder just got that message loud and clear. Now we wait to see how they answer.