The Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs open the 2026 Western Conference Finals on Monday night, delivering a matchup the NBA has not witnessed in nearly three decades: two 62-plus-win teams colliding for a berth in the Finals.
The stage
• Oklahoma City finished 64-18 and owns an 8-0 playoff record with a plus-16.6 point differential.
• San Antonio posted a 62-20 mark and reached the series at 8-3, outscoring opponents by 15.9 points per game.
• According to ESPN Research, this is the first postseason meeting between 62-win clubs since 1998 and only the seventh in league history. Every previous series of this kind lasted at least six games.
Season series
The Spurs won four of five contests, including a two-point NBA Cup semifinal in December that halted the defending champion Thunder’s 24-1 start. San Antonio’s three December victories over Oklahoma City came by a combined 35 points.
Star power
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander enters as back-to-back MVP, while Victor Wembanyama is the unanimous Defensive Player of the Year. The oldest projected starter in the series is 28-year-old De’Aaron Fox, underscoring the matchup’s youth.
Seven trends to watch
1. Corner pressure
San Antonio attempted 12.4 corner threes per game this season, the highest volume recorded since play-by-play tracking began in 1996-97, converting 39 percent. Oklahoma City’s defense, which regularly helps off the corners, surrendered a league-high 11.7 attempts from that spot.
2. Who guards Wembanyama?
During the season, coach Mark Daigneault primarily used wings Jalen Williams, Kenrich Williams and Alex Caruso against the 7-foot-4 center, helping aggressively on 23 percent of his touches. Jalen Williams, cleared after a hamstring strain, is expected to resume the assignment.
3. Unlocking the Thunder offense
Oklahoma City averaged just 109.9 points per 100 possessions in the five meetings—production that would have ranked 29th league-wide. With Wembanyama on the floor, that figure plummeted to 101.5. Off-ball shooters Caruso and Cason Wallace hit only 24 percent of their threes against San Antonio, allowing the Spurs’ star to roam.
4. Gilgeous-Alexander vs. Castle
Rookie guard Stephon Castle limited isolations to 0.85 points per play this season, one of the NBA’s best marks. He is expected to headline the Spurs’ coverage of Gilgeous-Alexander, whose three-point percentage against San Antonio fell to 19 percent, well below his 39 percent season average.
5. Transition stakes
Both clubs rank among the league’s top half-court defenses, raising the importance of fast breaks. The Thunder typically allow the NBA’s lowest transition rate off rebounds, but San Antonio pushed that figure to average levels by repeatedly racing Fox, Castle and rookie Dylan Harper up the floor.
6. Wembanyama vs. Holmgren
Chet Holmgren averaged 10.5 points on 39 percent shooting in four head-to-head meetings—second-worst outputs for him against any team. In the postseason, however, the Thunder center is 37-for-38 (97 percent) inside five feet. Wembanyama, meanwhile, is holding playoff opponents to 28 percent at the rim.
7. Lineup flexibility
Oklahoma City used 11 players in the regular-season series but rarely had a full roster. Trade-deadline addition Jared McCain (41 percent from three with the Thunder) has yet to face San Antonio, and Ajay Mitchell missed two December defeats. The Spurs’ main change is Julian Champagnie replacing Harrison Barnes in the starting five, adding shooting that could pull Holmgren away from the rim.
Historic context
This is only the seventh postseason series since 1997 in which both teams posted regular-season point differentials of plus-8 or better—the Thunder at plus-11.1, the Spurs at plus-8.3. Previous matchups in that category include Michael Jordan’s “Last Shot” in 1998 and the 1997 Flu Game.
Game 1 tips Monday night, launching a potential seven-game duel that could define the remainder of the decade.
Source: ESPN
