{"id":476686,"date":"2025-12-16T10:13:24","date_gmt":"2025-12-16T10:13:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/476686\/"},"modified":"2025-12-16T10:13:24","modified_gmt":"2025-12-16T10:13:24","slug":"how-shai-gilgeous-alexander-is-embracing-a-okc-spurs-rivalry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/476686\/","title":{"rendered":"How Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is embracing a OKC-Spurs rivalry"},"content":{"rendered":"

So, you\u2019re telling me there\u2019s a chance \u2014 the Oklahoma City Thunder<\/a> and the San Antonio Spurs<\/a> becoming the NBA\u2019s best new rivalry in the Western Conference, which Shai Gilgeous-Alexander<\/a> confirmed after Saturday\u2019s 111-109 loss. Gilgeous-Alexander and Chet Holmgren were excited<\/a> to learn from their loss to Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs.<\/p>\n

When a reporter asked Gilgeous-Alexander whether the Thunder and Spurs could become the league\u2019s new biggest rivalry<\/a>, he didn\u2019t see why not.<\/p>\n

\u201cPossibly, yeah \u2014 there\u2019s a good chance,\u201d Gilgeous-Alexander replied. \u201cThey\u2019re young \u2014 really good \u2014 have a lot of talent, play the right way. They play a good brand of basketball. But, yeah, definitely, there\u2019s a possibility. I\u2019ve noticed that anything can happen in a couple of years. So, yeah, there\u2019s definitely a possibility. It\u2019s not 100 percent. But definitely a possibility for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his first game since November 14, Wembanyama supplied 22 points, nine rebounds, two assists, two blocks, and one steal in 21 minutes off the bench in the Spurs\u2019 win against the Thunder. San Antonio went 9-3 without Wembanyama, including a 132-119 NBA Cup<\/a> quarterfinal win against the Los Angeles Lakers.<\/p>\n

The Spurs\u2019 De\u2019Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, and Devin Vassell led the team through a successful stretch of games without their All-Star center. The three all finished with 22+ points against the Thunder, while Wembanyama\u2019s punch off the bench on both ends of the floor limited Oklahoma City throughout the second half.<\/p>\n

Add elite three-point shooting \u2014 Vassell (4-9), Fox (3-7), and Castle (2-5) combined for 9-of-21 from behind the arc \u2014 stifling transition defense and rim protection from Wembanyama, and the Spurs managed to keep the Thunder at bay. San Antonio held Gilgeous-Alexander to 1-for-7 from deep and only four trips to the free-throw line.<\/p>\n

At the same time, Wembanyama helped string together defensive stops and made consecutive trips to the free-throw line, where he helped seal the Spurs’ win.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not a regular game; this is not a typical regular-season game,\u201d Wembanyama said after beating the Thunder. \u201cBecause we know if we lose, we\u2019re out. Some people are built for these moments; some aren\u2019t. But we definitely are, and it shows, because it\u2019s not against anybody that we won that game. I feel lucky. I\u2019m glad we have this group because everybody buys into this, and everybody is built for these moments.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the first time in my career, we\u2019re winning much more than we\u2019re losing.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Wembanyama\u2019s comments exude confidence in himself and the Spurs, many wondered whether it was a slight toward teams considered the Thunder\u2019s biggest threats this season. Others thought about Holmgren, who\u2019s been linked to Wembanyama as a rival since Wemby entered the league one year after Chet. He finished with 17 points on 3-of-8 attempts, including 1-for-3 from deep. Most of Chet\u2019s scoring came from the free-throw line, where he went 10-for-12.<\/p>\n

Holmgren was the second overall pick in the 2022 draft. Wembanyama was selected first overall the following year.<\/p>\n

Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander \u2018excited\u2019 after Spurs loss\"ThunderKirby Lee-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Thunder All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander welcomes the Spurs as a rival<\/a> in the NBA. It\u2019s something that\u2019s been in the back of fans\u2019 minds as a future threat to the defending champions. However, no one anticipated it to happen this soon, as Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs have entered the conversation as one of the Thunder’s most significant threats in the Western Conference.<\/p>\n

Fortunately for fans, the Thunder and Spurs will face off in a Christmas mini-series, starting when the Spurs host the Thunder two days before their Christmas Day showdown at the Paycom Center.<\/p>\n

\u201cPersonally, I think it\u2019s exciting,\u201d Gilgeous-Alexander said. \u201cIt\u2019s easier to learn when you don\u2019t feel the way you want to feel. It stings a little bit more.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll also see these guys [twice in the next five] games. So, it will be a good challenge. Kind of like an automatic test, almost like in school. You fail the test, you get to retest a couple of days later. That\u2019s what it will probably feel like. Losing is where you find growth and where you really get better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Improving as defending champions has one of the many themes for this year’s Thunder and perhaps its most important amid its historic 24-2 record. Saturday’s loss to the Spurs, snapping a 16-game win streak \u2014 the longest in franchise history \u2014 undoubtedly reinforces that approach.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t be spoiled,\u201d Gilgeous-Alexander added. \u201cWe can\u2019t think we\u2019re above anything. Us, along with every team in the league, if you show up on a night and don\u2019t do the necessary thing to win, you probably won\u2019t win, no matter how talented or no matter what your record looks like.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Thunder will host the Clippers at the Paycom Center on Thursday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"So, you\u2019re telling me there\u2019s a chance \u2014 the Oklahoma City Thunder and the San Antonio Spurs becoming…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":476687,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3783],"tags":[7,6,12902,1286,310,475,179,3966,3965,2144,474,209,312],"class_list":{"0":"post-476686","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-oklahoma-city-thunder","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-nba","10":"tag-nba-cup","11":"tag-nba-editorials","12":"tag-oklahoma","13":"tag-oklahoma-city","14":"tag-oklahoma-city-thunder","15":"tag-oklahomacity","16":"tag-oklahomacitythunder","17":"tag-reporting","18":"tag-san-antonio-spurs","19":"tag-shai-gilgeous-alexander","20":"tag-thunder"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115728718531137690","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/476686","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=476686"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/476686\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/476687"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=476686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=476686"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=476686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}