These Ascendant Spurs of San Antonio Are the Gift the League Required.

I’ve become fully convinced: Award the San Antonio Spurs the authority to Santa Claus’ elf headquarters. Put Stephon Castle in control of present construction. Permit Fox toss gifts into chimneys, from whatever range he’d like. Devin Vassell can decorate the Christmas cookies. Harrison Barnes has the troop of helpers managed. And, of course, the sleigh's vehicle must immediately be reconfigured for a more statuesque, leaner pilot so that the immense Wembanyama can pilot it without issue.

The sensational San Antonio squad have toppled the Oklahoma City Thunder in a trio of matchups in two weeks, and in doing so have reinvigorated this league schedule. I now have more faith in the team's ability to grant joy to the fans than any seasonal myths of old.

An Ominous Opening

It appeared grim for a time. The Oklahoma City might have claimed the title in June, but commenced this campaign in increasingly ominous form. They notched 24 wins in their initial 25 contests (the single setback was a fluky 20-point comeback). In the majority of those games, Williams, their next best player, was on the sidelines recovering from wrist surgery. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, their top player, hardly ever had to play in crunch time. The Thunder routed the Sacramento Kings by 31. The Lakers, who some expected to be a credible challenger, fell by 29; their basketball savant Doncic appeared as if he was playing against ten men. The Suns' valiant first got them a narrow defeat, by just four points. When they faced off again 12 days later, the Thunder won by 49. This game knocked all the remaining leaves off the trees and started winter 10 days ahead of schedule. Oklahoma City seemed poised to shredding anything in its path, even the Warriors' historic regular season record of 73-9.

The Nature of Their Game

The Thunder do not play a overly pleasing style of basketball. They skillfully leverage the referees’ dilemma over which infractions to call (a constant whistle disrupts the flow of the game, an inconsistent one allows players get away with blatant violations), often resulting in SGA taking free throws after whistles that would be better swallowed, while embodied pest Alex Caruso seems to have carte blanche to do anything he likes on the defensive end. Some say they appreciate, Gilgeous-Alexander maneuvering his body to draw minor touches from defenders; I can only presume those same people also like being struck hard in a sensitive area. That’s not to mention man-mountain Luguentz Dort leaving his feet and into opponents after many suspiciously minimal touches. This tactics allows critics to harbor the fantasy that in a world with ideal officiating, the Thunder would be a mediocre team. Genuine basketball heads know it’s far more irritating than integral to the Thunder’s success, but the general annoyance is sufficient to nudge some fans who might otherwise be uncommitted into cheering for Oklahoma City’s downfall.

Dominance can be impressively clinical to watch, but a historically great performance tends to evoke less awe the more times it happens again. How many times does anybody really want to watch one team beat another by 35? Sooner or later you remember that the drama is the point. The Thunder were draining the season of intrigue, building leads on other teams in the table as well as on the court.

The San Antonio Response

Through 21 minutes of the first San Antonio vs. OKC game this season, San Antonio trailed by 16 and appeared destined to go the same way as every other team. Instead, they have wrought hell upon the Thunder ever since.

Against the Spurs, the Thunder look mortal. Each member of their starting lineup deserves significant credit for that, but this is Victor Wembanyama’s team, and the Thunder know it. “There’s this player on their team that’s seven-foot-five and takes up a lot of space on the court,” Jalen Williams said, with some irritation, when asked what made the Spurs such a difficult opponent. The Thunder’s lanky center, 7ft 1in Holmgren, is the biggest player on the floor in most games, able to grab rebounds and reject opposing shots. Next to Wemby, he’s short, unpolished, and even timid. Victor's disregard for Holmgren is evident in how he exults each time Holmgren misses a free throw, as though he’s scored a major victory; the way he commits a foul on him with a bit of unnecessary force; the way he told reporters he refuses to acknowledge Holmgren a rival. (There is indeed no argument over which player is better.) At this rate Holmgren must expect Wemby to jump out from the pantry, taunting, when he goes to grab for a snack.

A Christmas Statement

The Spurs led by Wembanyama made their most definitive statement yet on Christmas, thumping the Thunder by 15 on their home floor. San Antonio took the customary early punch well yet again, recovering to score 41 points on the league’s top-ranked defense in the first quarter. Fox seamlessly found the miniscule holes in that defense to the tune of 29 points. The Spurs even held Gilgeous-Alexander to a season-low 22. He tried to compensate by whipping passes to wide-open teammates behind the arc, but they disappointed by bricking almost every single attempt.

A Thunder optimist would say that enough of those long-range shots will go in in a rematch to produce a win or a more competitive loss, but I found the misses symptomatic of a flaw. Off the back of his effortless stepback jumper, Gilgeous-Alexander is the most consistent scoring engine in the league. He is tough to guard and impossible to stop. But even he can’t shoulder an offense completely on his own. The Spurs put Gilgeous-Alexander under enough pressure that he had to delegate more than usual, and his supporting parts broke down under the increased burden. Dort and Caruso are good for the sporadic three-pointer, but relying on them to make the outside shot is the least desirable situation the Thunder want to be.

Shifting the Balance

The Spurs’ rise couldn’t have come at a more opportune time. Not only have they decisively established themselves as legitimate challengers – but they’ve allowed fans to see the Thunder in {higher definition|sharper focus|