OKLAHOMA CITY — As Christmas Day signifies the unofficial start to the NBA season, it also amplifies rivalries — it did just that Thursday with the association’s newest one.

The newest clash is between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the San Antonio Spurs, who played Thursday on Christmas Day inside the Paycom Center in OKC, where the Spurs dominated the Thunder 117-102, beating the Thunder for the second-straight game and for the third time this season.

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“You don’t lose to a team three times in a row, in a short span, without them being better than you,” said OKC star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. “So we have to get better. We have to look in the mirror, um, and that’s everybody from top to bottom, if we want to reach our ultimate goal.”

The Thunder is the best team in the National Basketball Association as defending champions, an association-leading 26-5 record and the reigning NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander — but the Thunder may have found its kryptonite and a new rivalry with the Spurs.

In the midst of a historic start to the season, with just five losses in 31 games, the Thunder have more than half of those losses to the Spurs.

Those three losses to San Antonio have come in the past 12 days and the Spurs have certainly displayed dominance in a majority of the three games, especially Thursday’s game.

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OKC was able to get out to an early lead in the first quarter, but after that, the Spurs dominated a majority of the rest of the game.

From the middle of the second quarter on, the Thunder never got within six points of the Spurs. San Antonio put on an offensive clinic — controlling the pace, breaking down OKC’s stellar perimeter defense and making tough shots — while the Thunder couldn’t make a bucket when it needed it the most.

The matchup has had the biggest spotlight on it this season, with a Christmas Day game and a semifinal game of the NBA Cup, and the Spurs have been able to beat the Thunder on three different courts in three different cities.

Thursday’s game, though, felt like a playoff game.

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The atmosphere was top-notch and everyone in the building knew that a rivalry was budding on the court. The Spurs, with everything against them Thursday, proved, again, why they are among the title contenders this season.

“I think we were pretty amped today,” Daigneault said. “I thought we really wanted to play and were excited to play, I thought we output a lot of effort. I didn’t think it was like a complacency thing at all. Our effort was there, our compete was there, it was our execution, in my opinion, more so than anything else. Credit to them, both teams played hard, I thought they were the team that executed better and that’s why they won.”

The game had a little bit of ruckus, but plenty of intensity. The Thunder, though, didn’t shoot well and fell behind early, unable to catch up.

Unlike most of the games this season, each Thunder player had an inefficient stretch of basketball Thursday, leading to another loss to the Spurs.

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Gilgeous-Alexander had his moments, but finished the game 7-19 from the field and 1-6 from 3-point range with 22 points — well below his 32.5-points per game average this season.

The other two players part of OKC’s ‘Big Three’ didn’t perform well, with Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams combining for 22 points on 10-22 shooting and 1-6 from the free throw line.

OKC also shot 39% from the field, 25% from 3-point range and 68% from the charity stripe — a losing formula, but Daigneault said it was a better performance than how OKC’s offense operated two days ago in a 20-point loss at the Spurs.

“I thought what we got on offense tonight was a step forward from where we were in San Antonio two nights ago,” Daigneault said. “I thought our process was better on that end of the floor, in terms of the way we distorted their defense and the shots we got, but they deserved to win. I didn’t think it was a make or miss outcome. I thought they out executed us and they played better and that’s why they won.”