The Oklahoma City Thunder aren’t treating the San Antonio Spurs like just another opponent. After what happened in a seven-game war in the 2026 Western Conference Finals, Cason Wallace made it clear the Thunder are still carrying that sting.
Wallace, who was one of Oklahoma City’s most important players in the postseason, said on the ' Cousins' podcast with Tracy McGrady and Vince Carter that the Thunder know exactly where they stand after last year’s meetings with San Antonio.
"Absolutely. I feel like they’ve got the best of us," Wallace said.
"They beat us. If we just keeping it a hundred, they beat us.
They beat us in the season. They beat us in the playoffs.
So it’s like we got to fight back."
That rivalry came into focus because both teams spent last season in a class of their own. The Thunder and Spurs were the league’s two 60-win powerhouses, and they spent most nights flattening opponents. A postseason collision between them felt unavoidable, and the series delivered everything the NBA hoped for.
The New York Knicks ended up winning the championship, but Oklahoma City and San Antonio still enter the 2026-27 season as co-favorites for the Larry O'Brien trophy. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is already a two-time MVP, while Victor Wembanyama could be in line for his first major award this year.
Wallace had to deal with some rough injury luck in that series, as Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell were sidelined for the back half of the seven-game battle. Even so, Wallace left his mark. In Game 7, he posted 17 points, seven rebounds and four assists, and he was right there with Gilgeous-Alexander as one of the few Thunder players who truly emptied the tank.
His shooting was a major bright spot throughout the playoffs, too. Wallace hit 48.4% from 3 on 4.1 attempts per game, a huge turnaround from a regular season that was only so-so from deep.
Now the Thunder are moving into a new phase, with several role players gone and more responsibility waiting for Wallace. He just finished a Year 3 breakout and earned his first All-Defense nod, and Oklahoma City is counting on him to keep climbing - especially on offense. He sounded upbeat in his exit interview about handling more of the ball, and that should only grow if the Thunder get another crack at San Antonio.
"For us to have the best record in the league two, three years in a row, and then for them to come in and this postseason do what they did," Wallace said. "It’s like our competitive spirit is like, 'Yo, we got to beat them.'"
For now, the Thunder-Spurs matchup has all the ingredients to stay front and center in the NBA. And if Wallace keeps developing the way Oklahoma City expects, the next chapter could look a lot different.
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