Bill Simmons is disappointed that the Thunder-Spurs series never became the classic everyone expected: “Did we fly a little too close to the sun?”

They’ve always taught us that there are no two better words in the world of sports than Game 7 and that is exactly what we’ve got on our hands after the San Antonio Spurs absolutely dismantled the reigning champions, the Oklahoma City Thunder, by 118-91 in front of a packed house at the Frost Bank Center last night.

But truth be told, the writing was on the wall after a truly epic Game 1. That double-overtime thriller eventually landed in the win column for Mitch Johnson’s squad, featuring a heavyweight battle where two MVP candidates, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Victor Wembanyama, treated us with unforgettable clutch shots.

Since that opening game, however, the intensity of this series hasn’t just dropped; it has cratered. We’ve been forced to sit through four consecutive blowouts with a trip to the NBA Finals on the line. It’s reached the point where Bill Simmons and Tim Legler are openly questioning whether this series even deserves to be called a classic.

“After Game 1, which was an all-timer, it was like, wow. Buckle up. This is a series for the ages. Did we fly a little too close to the sun? Because we haven’t had a good game since. This series has not been a classic,” Simmons stressed on his podcast. “Game 1 had all of the everything you’d ever want, and then we’ve had four kind of, eh, probably never watch any parts of any of these games again.”

“Where are we with this series now? Because I’m watching, well, that’ll lead to a big question too, but I’m watching this one, like, I really thought this was gonna be the Finals, and it doesn’t 100 percent feel that way,” he added.

Spurs and the Thunder had four straight blowouts

The grueling season is winding down, players are operating at their absolute physical limits and expecting seven straight games of peak-level, wire-to-wire intensity at this stage of the postseason is probably unrealistic. But if this series has proven anything, it’s that LeBron James’ ultimate mantra regarding modern basketball — that it’s a “game of runs” — is absolutely on point.

If we took a deep dive into the numbers, we could see how in all three of their home games, SAS ripped off at least one 15-0 run. In their three victories, they blew the doors off OKC by an average of 18.6 points.

Meanwhile, OKC scraped by in their three wins by an average margin of 12 points. When you lay it all out, the conclusion is undeniable: we haven’t had a single shred of real drama since Game 1.

“If I’m calling the game, just give me some drama late. That’s all you really ask for, man. So somebody that has to really rise up and show a lot of nerve to knock down a big shot, like some great defensive play. That’s all you’re asking for, man. That inside of a minute, game could go either way type of feel to it,” Legler said.

“And no, you haven’t really had it. You had that incredible first game. It was the greatest games any of us have ever seen in the playoffs. And you’re thinking, as we all were, oh man, we’re going to get like five or six more of those. Oh, it’s going to be incredible. And it’s, I guess that was too hard to live up to, man. But look, it might have taken something out of both teams,” he added.

Think about the iconic moments etched into recent league history. We still get chills thinking about Kawhi Leonard’s legendary bounce-at-the-buzzer against the Philadelphia 76ers.

LBJ pulled off similar magic against the Orlando Magic back in 2009, while the iconic Kobe Bryant-to-Shaquille O’Neal alley-oop has long been cemented as NBA heritage. Wemby’s deep three in Stephen Curry-style in Game 1 belongs right in that same time capsule.

Those are the kind of unforgettable, core-memory snapshots from the Conference finals over the years, the moments that stay with fans forever. But we simply have to accept how drastically the game has evolved from past eras.

Back in the day, a 15-0 run was a death sentence, usually meaning game over. Today, thanks to the evolution of hyper-pace and high-volume 3-point shooting, both teams are fully capable of trading massive, wild runs in the same game. Just look at the New York Knicks in Game 1 against the Cleveland Cavaliers, when they made history as the first playoff team ever to erase a 22-point deficit with a mere seven minutes left on the clock.

Furthermore, Game 7s across the league this year have generally been massive letdowns. The Detroit Pistons completely ran the Orlando Magic off the floor by 22 points, only for Cleveland to give them a taste of their own medicine with a 31-point beatdown in the ECSF.

And last season didn’t treat us any better.

The Denver Nuggets managed to push the Thunder to a Game 7, but in their four losses, they were hammered by an average of 21.7 points. A year prior, in another seven-game slugfest against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Denver dropped their losses by an average of 21.5 points, while securing their three wins by a comfortable 16.6 points per game.

NBA playoffs used to be a completely different sport

We are talking about three high-profile, heavyweight playoff series at the top of the Western Conference that went the absolute distance, yet provided minimal to nonexistent drama when it actually mattered. And that is the exact same threat looming over us right now if Game 7 turns into another lopsided blowout.

The NBA playoffs used to be a completely different sport — a high-stakes chess match where the coach who made the better tactical adjustment walked away with the win. In recent years, however, the postseason has morphed into a frantic sprint where the only thing that matters is who gets hot first.

Still, as true basketball purists, we’re holding out hope that a similar, anti-climactic script doesn’t await us when the ball goes up for Game 7.

This story was originally published by Basketball Network on May 29, 2026, where it first appeared in the Off The Court section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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