OKLAHOMA CITY — As OKC fans filed out in the final moments to save some daylight on Christmas, an assembly of San Antonio fans parked near their favorite team’s bench took over. A ‘Go Spurs Go!’ chant could be audibly heard as the final buzzer sounded.

The Oklahoma City Thunder had their world shaken in their 117-102 loss to the San Antonio Spurs. That’s three consecutive defeats handed to them by that squad in the last two weeks.

Playing on Christmas for the first time, the Thunder looked like a team ready to avenge their most embarrassing loss yet, less than 48 hours later. Jalen Williams had things going. So did Chet Holmgren. The Spurs weren’t rattled, though. De’Aaron Fox kept their composure. San Antonio couldn’t miss any of its looks.

Eventually, the Thunder were in a 41-36 deficit after the first quarter. Allowing 75% shooting, the league-best defense looked completely out of character. The Spurs had plenty of drive-first scorers who sliced through OKC’s defense. Little bit of deja vu.

The scary part was, Victor Wembanyama hardly played. You know, the guy universally viewed as a top-five player who completely changes the geometry in the halfcourt? He continues to be in a bench role as he works his way back from a calf strain.

The Thunder eventually cooled off, but the Spurs didn’t. Alex Caruso was dared to beat them from the outside. He missed eight outside attempts in nine minutes. They only put up 24 points in the second frame as they entered halftime in a 69-60 deficit to San Antonio.

The second half was much of the same story. Stephon Castle threw an elementary alley-oop to Luke Kornet in the early stages to push their lead to double-digit points. The Spurs had it too easy going to the paint. Harrison Barnes continues to be pesky against OKC as he sliced through their defense for an easy layup.

On the other end, the Thunder offense once again regressed. Badly. Anytime the ball was out of Gilgeous-Alexander’s hands, that was a small victory. They clanked outside look after outside look. A 19-point third frame had them in a 95-79 hole.

A quick start to the fourth quarter provided some hope. Isaiah Joe made an outside bucket to cut it within nine points with a little over eight minutes to go. Alas, that’d be the closest it’d get the rest of the way. Wembanyama drilled in a demoralizing outside jumper that OKC had no chance to actually contest. The rest of the Spurs also helped out with timely buckets.

The Thunder only scored 23 points in the final frame. That wasn’t enough to overcome a double-digit deficit. Eventually, they waved the white flag and cleared their bench. For the first time since Game 1 of the 2025 NBA Finals, the OKC home crowd left in a bad mood.

The Thunder shot 39% from the field and went 11-of-44 (25%) from 3. They shot 17-of-25 on free throws. They had 23 assists on 37 baskets. Five Thunder players scored double-digit points.

Gilgeous-Alexander was limited to 22 points and six rebounds. Williams had a quiet 12 points and six assists. Holmgren tallied 10 points and 12 rebounds. Isaiah Hartenstein totaled 13 points and 12 rebounds. Caruso finished with 12 points on 13 shot attempts.

Meanwhile, the Spurs shot 54% from the field and went 11-of-29 (37.9%) from 3. They shot 16-of-21 on free throws. They had 20 assists on 45 baskets. Five Spurs players scored double-digit points.

Wembanyama had 19 points and 11 rebounds off the bench. Fox finished with an efficient 29 points on 12-of-19 shooting and four rebounds. Castle had 18 points and seven assists. Barnes finished with 15 points and six rebounds. Dylan Harper helped with 12 points off the bench.

Well, the Thunder officially have a Spurs problem. Three games in two weeks show that they’re a matchup nightmare. Just by eyeballing, you can tell they’re a tick faster and more athletic than OKC. That small advantage has been painfully noticeable. The defense has been beaten at all three levels. When you’re this defensively reliant, you can’t let that happen.

A lot can happen from now to the NBA playoffs. After all, it’s only December. But the Thunder have been slapped with reality for the first time in a while. Over one-third of the way through the regular season, San Antonio looks to be the first piece of Kryptonite that has risen from the field against the reigning NBA champion.

Let’s look at Thunder player grades:

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: C

With the final result unofficially decided, Gilgeous-Alexander’s last shot attempt hit the front of the rim. A pull-up 3-pointer failed to go in despite it being a quality look, as a screen wiped out Castle. That was a pretty poetic way to end a forgettable Christmas Day debut for the reigning MVP.

Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 22 points on 7-of-19 shooting, six rebounds and four assists. He shot 1-of-6 from 3 and went 7-of-8 on free throws. He also had a steal.

For really the first time, the Spurs slowed down Gilgeous-Alexander’s unreal superb scoring production. Usually automatic in the mid-range, San Antonio crashed down several defenders at him as soon as he pulled up. Same with his outside jumper.

As Wembanyama roamed the paint like an ‘Attack on Titan’ character, Gilgeous-Alexander hesitated to get to the rim. It’s one thing when it’s just him; it’s another when the Spurs are also loaded with perimeter defenders that can keep up with his footwork. At that point, that’s too many problems to solve.

The Thunder have relied on the same formula in their NBA dominance over the last two seasons — Gilgeous-Alexander constantly puts up an efficient 30-plus points while the rest of the roster shuts down the opponent on the other end. When both of those variables are off, like they were here, then this is the result.

Jalen Williams: D

Going at Kornet, Williams sped up to get by the Spurs’ starting center. He lolipopped his way to an underhanded layup. That first bucket felt like we were about to see the All-NBA player wash away a forgettable outing just a couple of days ago against the same squad. Never mind about that.

Williams finished with 12 points on 5-of-13 shooting, six assists and two rebounds. He shot 1-of-2 from 3 and went 1-of-4 on free throws. He also had two steals.

Early on, Williams teased us with a vintage performance. He drove to the basket for a layup. He nailed a couple of mid-range jumpers. He even swished in a pull-up 3-pointer. Alas, his nine points in the opening frame proved to be three-fourths of his point production.

As the game progressed, Williams faded into the background as a scorer. His pull-up jumper abandoned him mid-game. The Spurs forced him to second-guess himself. By the end, he joined a long list of OKC players who looked like they forgot how to play to their formula of basketball success.

While the offense wasn’t the side of the ball to blame, the Thunder need more from Williams. It’s disappointing to see him lay a second consecutive egg against the Spurs. They brought home an NBA championship because he broke out as an efficient 20-plus scorer. That version of him has yet to be seen on a consistent basis.

Chet Holmgren: D

Ricocheting a free-throw attempt, Holmgren’s miss had Wembanyama pumped up. ESPN’s hot mics caught the latter flexing his muscles and high-fiving his teammate on the missed attempt. Once again, Holmgren was quiet with the Spurs across from him.

Holmgren finished with 10 points on 5-of-9 shooting, 12 rebounds and two assists. He shot 0-of-2 from 3 and went 0-of-2 on free throws. He also had a block.

For the first time since last season, the Thunder have gone from a defensive leakage to a full-blown problem. The Spurs did much of the same two days later. They attacked OKC’s defense. Armed with several players who could put the ball down and attack, they went on to have 52 points inside the paint on 59% shooting.

That’s just not going to cut it. The Thunder need more from Holmgren. He’s the face of their interior defense. They don’t have enough offensive juice to go bucket for bucket. You can complain that the seven-footer isn’t an aggressive enough scorer, but this is who he is at this point in his career.

We’ll see if the Thunder can eventually figure things out. April is still a long way away from the games actually mattering. But the game tape they’ve put up in these two losses is downright alarming. A matchup against the Spurs has made OKC’s gaudy defense look pedestrian for the first time in forever.

Alex Caruso: F

Completely left wide open, Caruso had several good looks from the corner. Clank. Clank. Clank. The onomatopoeia echoed throughout the OKC crowd. Hand-delivered several quality looks, OKC’s role players let it slip through their fingers and bailed the Spurs out.

Caruso finished with 12 points on 3-of-13 shooting and one rebound. He shot 2-of-12 from 3 and went 4-of-4 on free throws. He also had one block.

The Spurs join the long list of teams over the years that have deployed that strategy. As awesome as Caruso is on the defensive end, his inconsistent outshot shot is equally a disadvantage. That’s a theme throughout the Thunder’s roster. Same goes for guys like Cason Wallace and Lu Dort.

The Thunder simply don’t have enough real shooters to force teams to play honestly with them in the halfcourt. They won an NBA championship in spite of it. But that was because they played all-time great defense to ugly up the game. If they’re not bringing that level of defense, then they look more vulnerable.

We’ve known that for years, though. The Thunder consciously made that trade-off when constructing this championship roster. Any slippage on that end, though, exposes them to losses like these. It’s still a long way away, but it feels like OKC will need to win close, low-scoring games once again in the playoffs.

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