May 30, 2026 49 min read

Fraternizing with the Enemy: So Long, San Antonio

Remembering an old friend while renewing the Thunder-Spurs rivalry

Everyone hates the algorithm, and most of our contributors and followers miss the good 'ol days of NBA Twitter. Like all nostalgia, our memories soften the worst parts of the past and highlight the good stuff. If you think the hate for Shai and OKC has peaked in 2026, you're missing the racist, demeaning vitriol that filled message boards about Russell Westbrook back in the early 2010s. But back then, the algorithm wasn't shoving the worst of it in our faces.

Anyway, the crew at Pounding the Rock reached out before the conference finals to collaborate on their "Fraternizing with the Enemy" tradition that dates back to Thunder-Spurs playoff battles 15 years ago. PtR is still a part of SB Nation, where Welcome to Loud City used to exist. I once worked at WTLC under J.A. Sherman, or Andy, as PtR's editor-in-chief J.R. Wilco and I knew him privately. J.A. was there for all the ugly battles of the past, and somehow never, ever got down into the mud. (Andy and his family would want me to credit his faith for that composure and example, which I am more than happy to do).

Sadly, Andy passed away unexpectedly last winter. In memory of one of the kindest, most positive dudes to ever write and run a sports blog, we have been trading notes about Spurs-Thunder 2026, doing our best to exhibit the good-natured spirit "J.A." put into everything he wrote and assigned. Even when the rivalry gets ugly.

We ended the series at the doorstep of Game 7, having crossed 13,000 words in 13 days of good faith banter and shared analysis while the flames of online rage engulf each team's respective fan bases. If either of us are tempted to be sore losers when the series finally ends, it won't be in honor of our friend.

Before Game 1

J.R.

I’ve said before that one of my favorite things about being editor-in-chief of this website is reaching out to the writers that cover other teams and having conversations with them. The Fraternizing with the Enemy series is one of the things of which I’m most proud from my tenure at PtR. So when I say that I very nearly took this series off, you’ll understand what a big deal that is.

See, running this website has brought me not only a lot of joy since 2010, but also a lot of friendships. Of those relationships that have developed over the years, none have been more important to me than the one that grew between J.A. Sherman and me. J.A. used to run Welcome to Loud City when it was a part of S.B. Nation, and we met as fellow blog managers. We frequently Fratted together, and even did so through the Western Conference Finals of 2014 which Spurs fans remember fondly and Thunder fans less so.

As time went on and he left the sports blogging world, he became one of my closest friends. Last year, at the age of 49, he died. I don’t currently have the words to express what losing him has meant to me. Those of you who have experienced the loss of someone close to you know how foundation-shaking a thing it can be.

I wrestled with the idea how best to honor him, and finally settled on continuing the series. I reached out to one of his former contributors, Cray, who currently runs the excellent Daily Thunder and has agreed to accompany me as our teams battle it out on the court. Please enjoy and discuss, but also remember my friend. His family misses him terribly, and so do I. This is for him.

Cray

12 years ago, but it seems like yesterday. The Spurs battles from that era were some of the best (i.e. most grueling and miserable until they were over) for Thunder fans. I still have nightmares about Derek Fisher guarding Tim Duncan in the post in 2014. And I bet Anthony Edwards’ in-game congrats in Game 6 didn’t wash away your memory of KD hugging his family in the final moments of the 2012 G6. Or maybe you’re a more well regulated fan than I am lol.

I'm honored to be a part of such a tribute. We could all stand to be a little more like J.A. when yelling at the TV, muting our @s, and writing from the rollercoaster that every fanbase rides.

J.R.

I’ll admit that I’d completely forgotten Durant’s 2012 celebration. Candidly, 2014 put a lot of negative memories to rest. In some ways, it does seem like yesterday. And in other ways it’s been long enough that it feels like forever. The DeMar DeRozan years. The Dejounte Murray years. The misses in the draft like Lonnie Walker and poor Josh Primo. Tearing down the team meant losing Derrick White and Jakob Poeltl; bottoming out meant learning to actually pay attention to the lottery. Not much fun.

Nightmares aren’t fun either, so I’m sorry that last year’s championship didn’t cleanse your subconscious of the trauma that the Beautiful Basketball Spurs inflicted on you and your fanbase. That’s the thing about zero sum games like professional sports. There’s no ultimate celebration for thee without misery for me. And it’s not just a single me. Every title-clinching team leaves a collection of bitter opposition fans in its wake.

It’s hard to remember, in the midst of our fond memories of victories last, that every series we remember with nostalgia is a painful memory for up to four different communities — and speaking of painful memories, the loss of J.A. Sherman is something I’m still dealing with. He had become one of my closest friends, and I miss him terribly and daily. The time I was fortunate enough to spend with him is both a source of joy and pain, but I’m so glad you knew him too, and this conversation helps me to not focus on that loss.

Which brings me to the series, and what now seems like the inevitable clash of these two young teams that has all of the markings of an epic (and potentially annual) conflict. What do you think of the series? What are you looking forward to and what concerns you?

Cray

As for the series, my Thunder optimism has provoked the “blind homer” label from a loyal reader. I know the Spurs are capable of reaching OKC’s level in the very near future. I know Oklahoma City looked just as spooked as the rest of the league when struggling against Victor Wembanyama and the talent orbiting him in their matchups this regular season. I know Wemby might be the most inevitable force of nature the sport has ever seen. (Is he still growing? Please tell me he at least stopped growing.)

But I know the Thunder are in a historic tier of excellence in their own right. Specifically, their defense has become one of the most relatively dominant of all-time, as has their lead bucket-getter. If a reigning champ was ever built to withstand an alien invasion, it’s the basketball team in Oklahoma City.

If healthy.

That’s my main concern for the conference finals: that Jalen Williams’ fourth return from injury this season will not be shortlived like the others. OKC needs his size and rim pressure on the mix in order to hold up against Wemby on both ends. Ajay Mitchell has been a revelation, and there are plenty of bright spots throughout the postseason roster I could point to for the Thunder hopeful. But only JDub adds the kind of perimeter and paint force on the level of SGA and Chet Holmgren.

As for the matchup dynamics, I think the biggest game-by-game swings will come from corner shooting volume (San Antonio’s bread and butter, which OKC de-emphasizes in their defensive scheme) and midrange proficiency (Shai’s all-time bread and butter, which only doubles and triples have been able to slow thus far in 2026).

What do you think? Should I feel like the Spurs are more of an existential threat than my interpretation of the numbers has convinced me?

J.R.

I don’t think it’s my place to try to dial up your fear of San Antonio. Through the first two rounds of the playoffs, my Fraternizing partners have been very upfront about their doubts as to whether they could keep pace with the Spurs. So your confidence is not only refreshing, but well-founded, I think. I’ve never thought it was wise to put too much faith in regular season success when trying to predict how a postseason series would go. As a result, I’m trying to maintain my balance in the face of so many people I respect picking the Spurs, or at least calling the matchup even.

The Western Conference Finals is a reality now, but at the beginning of the season it was just dream, and a remote one at that. I feel a bit like I should be thankful for how far the team has come, but what kind of fan can satisfy themself with nearly making the finals? No, fanatics are never satisfied. Which means we have to get our hands dirty and dive into the nitty gritty.

But where to begin? How about Wemby’s dislike for Holmgren! What does it mean to you that there’s some unfulfilled animosity brewing under the surface before the games even get underway?

Cray

I can relate to your capacity for greedy discontent. The Thunder vaulted into the 1 seed two years ago, way ahead of schedule. Pushing Luka and the Mavs, the eventual Finals representatives from the West, to six games was way beyond our expectations for OKC. And it felt awful. As soon as you can sniff title contention, you stop counting moral victories. (Not to mention those 2012 Thunder, who appeared primed to leave San Antonio and the rest of the league in the dust. We know how that worked out.)

I’m a total hypocrite when it comes to Wemby and Chet. I love the rivalry, and I enjoy it getting as petty and charged as possible. It wouldn’t feel like Thunder/Spurs if everyone seemed to be having a good time. But I still find Wemby’s disdain for Chet to be pretty annoying since it’s never felt provoked by Holmgren, let alone reciprocated. Maybe Chet starts to take it more personally this time around. That might be a good thing for OKC, since he’s been far from his best against San Antonio of late.

One thing to track is SGA tiptoeing into the petty wars. Known for his class, SGA has developed a routine of avoiding verbal spats and sticking to the high road *during* the series, only to flex at the opponent after besting them. See: Dillon Brooks and the Los Angeles Lakers. If he pulls out this win, you can expect Shai to finally trade a barb or two with Wemby on their budding MVP and championship rivalry about which Victor has been much less bashful.

All that is to say, I think the animosity between our fanbases will be raging in the very near future. There is no way out of this postseason without us locked into another very bitter feud in place for the years to come. And this time around, the algorithms are here to make it even nastier.

Aside from Wemby, I expect to be most tormented by Dylan Harper and Devin Vassell. They’re both gamers I’ve been admiring from a distance up until now. Are you worried about any Thunder players outside of Shai driving you insane?

J.R.

Two words. First word. First syllable. Sounds like “Eww.” Second word. First syllable. Sounds like “Fort.”

I don’t think that there’s anyone I’m more primed to dislike than Lou Dort, and it’s not a new thing because I’ve had a decades-long dislike for guys that are a danger to the health and well being of their fellow players. It started when I was a kid watching a game with my day and I was so upset at the player who was killing our team with these baseline jumpers. He kept getting open and simply refused to miss.

I finally blurted out, “Someone kick him in the knee!” and my dad had a talk with me about what we do and don’t do as fans. It was a lesson in sportsmanship and mutual respect. About playing hard but also recognizing that it’s better to take your lumps and learn from it than it is to give in to your worse instincts and lash out, endangering the career and livelihood of your fellow competitor.

That lecture is something that guided me as a student athlete, and it guides me as an editor-in-chief. Every writer on PtR called out Wemby’s shot at Naz Reid’s neck as being unjustified. I was horrified that Vic was about two inches below what might have shattered the dude’s jaw.

So when I see a guy that’s not just going to the edge of what the refs will allow (never the line that I think should be the limit for a player) but into the realm of what could take an opponent out of a game, I get uncomfortable.

So here are my questions: is Dort’s reputation earned, or does he get a bad rap? Am I right to be concerned that he could injure one or the Spurs, or has that threat been blown out of proportion?

Cray

Wow, most other fans LOVE Sweet Lu.

Jokes aside, I get it. Dort is the Thunder most prone by far to actual, outright flopping. And he lost the benefit of the doubt with many after tripping Nikola Jokic this season. He’ll be scrutinized even more closely as a result of taking such a blatant action out in the open. So I wouldn’t call his rap sheet unfounded. (And props to you for holding Wemby to the same standard.)

While he’s even admitted to crossing the line, I do think his reputation as a goon or even an enforcer is overstated. (Jaylin Williams has a lot more fun doing the latter.) No one who has seen his multitude of finishing fails would accuse him of masterful body control that could mask constant dirty intent. Referees are always trained on his matchup, and he racks up a small fraction of the uncommon fouls that other boundary-pushing, sly defenders like Draymond Green and Dillon Brooks are notorious for. If he were as sneaky and capable as his reputation, he would be capable of more than standing in the corner on offense. He’s guilty of more reckless hustle plays than cheap shots, though that’s little consolation if your favorite player is at the bottom of the pileup.

What I think is underrated: Dort’s genuine, elite on-ball defense. It’s not just driven by his physicality; he’s not just good because he fouls. He’s thrived through the changing winds of what refs call too much or too little over the years. And he isn’t the one turning halfcourt into football. Opposing offenses run him through a gauntlet of screening collisions to free their best scorers from Dort’s ball denial. Of course they’d rather he let up when facing the first, second, or seventh pick of a possession; his coaches don’t, and that’s why he’s got a starting gig in the NBA.

But when his dreads go flying on one end after he brushes your big’s shoulder, followed by an ugly, swished moonball after the ball swings his way on the other end...I get that the Dort experience is annoying at best.

With the conference finals almost underway, here’s to a healthy series free of any dangerous swinging limbs. I hope De’Aaron Fox and Luke Kornet join Jalen Williams in flipping from questionable to active when Game 1 tips later tonight. Strength for strength, I’m ready to find out who’s got whose number.

Game 1: SAS 112 OKC 105

J.R.

I don’t know that I’m equipped to adequately respond to Game 1. I’ve never noticed my heart rate so high for a game I wasn’t playing in. I went ahead and recorded it as a workout on my Apple Watch because it was over 120! And that was just regulation. I’m not sure that’s healthy.

There were so many moments worthy of focusing on, but the one that I can’t let go of is this: I’ve never seen a team up by two practically let the other team score at the end of regulation while completely selling out to avoid giving up a game winning three in order to play for overtime WHILE ON THE ROAD!? I always heard that was a cardinal sin. But apparently Mitch Johnson was concerned enough by the thought of Chet hitting a wide open three that he had Wemby stay home. After I recovered from the shock, I could see the logic.

It’s bad enough to lose a game, but the lift OKC would get from hitting a buzzer-beating game-winner would be worse than any other outcome. So he trusted his team, tired as they were, and rolled the dice into overtime, even though that didn’t work.

I mean, overtime worked in staving off a loss in regulation, but it didn’t stop the Thunder’s momentum and San Antonio was down three with less than half a minute left when Wemby decided to play Steph Curry and shoot what the play-by-play calls a “27-foot running jump shot,” which I wouldn’t call completely accurate but I’m not in the mood to argue about. From that point, the Spurs rode the momentum from Wemby’s audacious shot into the second overtime period and won it 14-7 for a 1-0 series lead.

I realize that I haven’t even scratched the surface of this game. I haven’t discussed the first three quarters at all. Haven’t given credit to Chet for his game-saving block to end regulation. Haven’t praised Coach Daigneault for sticking to his non-traditional 11-man (eleven?) rotation to keep his guys fresh for a 58 minute contest. Haven’t done a lot, but before I take to babbling incoherently, I want to throw it to you. What was your immediate response and what is your main takeaway from that epic series opener?

Cray

What. A. Game.

It was so intense, so action-packed, and long as hell that we could probably both dissect a half dozen coach and player decisions from our teams apiece. On the one hand, a little better shotmaking from the Thunder’s best players would’ve swung this to a victory. On the other, Oklahoma City had the overall turnover, transition, and shooting (thanks, Alex Caruso) that have produced blowout wins the last two season — and it wasn’t enough for a close win against San Antonio. I don’t know what to think, as eager as I am to overreact. If PtR ~~sickos~~ readers enjoy listening to sad Thunder fans do just that for 90 miserable minutes, they should check out Daily Thunder’s Game 1 podcast recap.

Your questioning of that Wemby-corner assignment echoes what we’re all second guessing on the other end for OKC. As admirable a job Crazy Little Caruso has done going to war with Nikola Jokic and now Wemby in the paint, I don’t know that the battle is even worth fighting. Chet’s aggressive help from the corner when the Spurs get the ball inside to Victor is typically too little, too late. And that simultaneously opens up more of those corner threes that San Antonio has torched the league with all year. (As expected, my enjoyment of Devin Vassell has reached its conclusion.)

Correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems pretty clear that Wemby loves dunking on wings and going Kobe against bigs. That Steph-mode three notwithstanding, I would rather see Wemby shoot threes at around his 5+ attempt, 34% average than watch this chart get worse throughout the series.

Matter of fact, I’d rather stab my eyes out than watch him feed that chart with infinity more dunks on the head of Jalen Williams.

Two questions for you:

1. Are the Thunder playing into the Spurs’ hands with their scheme, or would you find a straight up Chet matchup to be even more in your favor?

2. You mentioned Mark Daigneault’s remarkably deep rotation. Mitch Johnson was the polar opposite. After the half, Johnson played all but one of his starters more than their regular season average for entire games (per Mike Shearer). Which contrasting rotation approach will work out better for the duration of the series, assuming both coaches stick to their guns?

J.R.

First, I think that any single scheme isn’t going to be sufficient to stop the Frenchman. That’s not because there is no scheme capable of stopping or slowing down Victor, that’s been done before even if it hasn’t been done recently or frequently. No, the reason no one scheme is enough is because San Antonio isn’t using a single scheme against SGA, and Wembanyama is at the point where he needs to be game-planned like one of the league’s elite offensive players.

It’s not going to be good enough to have a plan for Wemby while rotating defenders in and out to execute that scheme. You need to throw a different look at him as often as you can. Sean Sweeney mixed up defenses continually throughout Monday’s game. Shai isn’t sure what defense he’s looking at on a possession to possession basis. I see him just across half court wondering if it’s a soft trap or a zone, or whether he’s going to be blitzed as soon as he puts the ball on the floor. And the time he has to spend figuring it out means fewer chances to make plays.

If MD and his staff have eight options but none of them are working very well, pick the five they hate the least and cycle through them while giving him a merry-go-round of defenders to execute them. The Alien is impossible to defend straight up but he still has to process what he’s facing. Your best chance is to make him work hard mentally at the same time you’re testing him physically, otherwise his shot chart will keep looking like this (which is possibly the least Wemby graphic I’ve ever seen):

As to the rotations, it’s a good question but I don’t know if I can grant your condition. Joe and Wiggins combined for five minutes, and even though he got twelve in Game 1, I don’t think this is the series for Hartenstein. That’s not a knock on him, Rudy freaking Gobert was largely benched by the end of the last series. That player prototype doesn’t seem to be compatible with winning basketball while Wemby is in the game. Which means that both teams are essentially in the same place: as usually happens when the best teams meet in a series, all roads lead toward that ubiquitous nine man rotation.

As for the series as a whole, nothing has been decided yet, although things are beginning to take shape. Oklahoma City’s path to the finals exists, but it’s along the margins and the improvements are mainly required on offense. SGA needs to improve his shooting a little bit. Mitchell needs to make a couple more plays per half. The Thunder need to find a handful more successful offensive possessions that don’t involve a mediocre shooter taking an uncontested three. Someone needs to take Chet Holmgren aside, give him a big hug, and convince him that everyone that knows him loves him and believes in him. And finally, for crying out loud, the medical staff needs to find a way to keep JDub healthy. Please!

How about you? When your inner optimist imagines the Thunder’s Game 2 response, what do you see and how does it go?

Cray

Yeah, Shai has been tested all postseason by doubles, triples, and overloaded zones, but the Spurs have the personnel to turn every possession into a pop quiz. OKC did mix up their sets and actions throughout the game on and off ball, weak and strong side, high and low, etc., but the window of opportunity to read and react to your advantage is so tiny with Wemby and the San Antonio scramblers. SGA has taken a leap as a playmaker this season, but he’s still not the snappiest decision maker with the ball.

Per CourtSketch, the most balanced minutes were those featuring Alex Caruso alongside Shai against Wembanyama. Caruso is about as trustworthy a postseason shooter as OKC has on the roster. With Wemby giving him the Tony Allen treatment, the heady Caruso drifted around the arc as a capable release valve when Shai drove through traffic. The game was even through the first overtime when that duo and Wemby shared the floor, with both Thunder players outscoring the Frenchman across 27 minutes in total. Of course, Victor won that matchup in the second OT going away.

I expect Daigneault and Shai to unlock more of what worked from the playbook, and for him to speed up his reads as they get acclimated to the Spurs. As nice as sweeping the Suns and Lakers in the first two rounds was for OKC, it wasn’t great preparation for the storm they ran into in the conference finals. But Caruso isn’t going to nail 8 threes every night. Shai will need to bang home a lot more of his own — they will remain difficult looks, but he’s one of most efficient tough shotmakers in league history — and he will need help from secondary playmakers to cut, drive, and shoot in those momentary creases that open when he draws Spurs defenders.

Caruso can be an opportunistic scorer, and he managed to shake Wemby a few times. That’s not enough to lift the offense above “good enough”. You’re right to name Ajay Mitchell in this context. He never lacks aggression, but he took the wrong shots (and floaters, ugh) all night. And if Wemby can really play this heavy of a load with full energy, they’ll need someone outside of Caruso to bother him on both ends.

That’s JDub’s music. He was awesome in the most brutal game imaginable for returning from an extended injury. But he didn’t have the oomph to stand up Wemby, and might not get there this series. Like you said, hopefully he stays healthy enough to keep trying.

That brings me to De’Aaron Fox. I was bummed he missed Game 1, and really hope he’s back for Game 2. The Spurs could absolutely use his minutes; I’m curious if you are itching for him to get back into the starting lineup, though. I was terrified of Dylan Harper getting plugged in with the starters before Fox’s injury was announced. Considering Harper showing out, would you want Mitch to roll with the rookie or bring him off the bench when Fox is back?

J.R.

Do you know how when you’re watching a great movie or reading an excellent novel, you’ll be so engaged and involved with the characters until the scene ends and the action jumps to a different character’s thread of the story and you get that feeling of loss because you want to know what happens next with the characters that you were just with? And then the exact same thing happens the next time the scene breaks to rejoin the characters that you were initially upset at leaving?

That’s what it’s like for me every time one of the Spurs’ three guards leaves the game. “Oh no!” I’ll think, “Harper was just playing so well, and now he’s being replaced.”Then Castle will hit a three, steal the ball and get a breakaway dunk, and then block the opposing team’s center, and I will berate myself for being upset that he came into the game.

So I’m both excited that Harper got to start and play so much, while also being upset that Fox wasn’t available to come into the game and sub for Castle when he was spraying turnovers like a vaudeville actor doing a spit take.

The bottom line with Fox is that I want him to come back, but I would rather wait until game three if it means, he’ll be truly healthy and can play the rest of the series without being concerned about his ankle. And if I know the Spurs training staff, they will err on the side of safety. But when he comes back, he’s absolutely got the starting job. I can’t imagine Mitch starting Harper over the veteran for more than one game.

The thing about a playoff series is that no matter who has won the previous game, sometimes it’s hard for me to imagine the other team ever winning. When Minnesota took Game 1 of the second round, it felt like the Spurs might never win. After San Antonio won the next two, it felt like they would never lose again. Do you get that too, and do you feel like Wednesday’s game is a must win for OKC?

Cray

That casting change analogy totally resonates with me. This season, at their best, the Thunder have always trimmed the rotation down to the most predictable and trusted combination of veteran players. That’s typical of all contenders when the playoffs unfold and the 82 game players fade from view. But my cliche this season has become “pinch yourself”, writing about how it feels watching actually good players like Mitchell and Caruso and even Jared McCain subbing in for the stars.

NBA fans are pinching themselves, too, ready for the sequel to Game 1: Clash of the Titans. We should feel good being fans of teams putting together this masterpiece. Everyone is asking how any other franchises have any hope of matching the defensive intensity, advanced strategy and tactics, and stable of young, hungry, excellent players suiting up for Oklahoma City and San Antonio on the NBA’s biggest stage. Who cares if these teams are likeable, stylish, popular, or hated? They’re the best, and they’re ours. Timberwolves fans can enjoy all the Ant ads they want while our guys are catching a breather during commercial breaks.

For the Thunder, it’s absolutely a must win (we might need to start tallying how many “must-wins” we flag throughout the series). The pressure is on, their backs are against the wall, the lights are bright...all the cliches apply for an OKC team fighting for a title repeat. I’m nervous but confident about their fate. One, because they’ve stared down these moments before, always harnessing the competitive fire of a champion. Two, because I anticipate a bit of a letdown. Even the most epic series feature more lopsided contests mixed in with the nail biters, and Game 2 for #1 seeds down 0-1 tend to even out relatively comfortably. Even if the Spurs are super fresh and unbothered by the heavy minutes from the other night, it would be really, really tough to avoid any emotional letdown and keep the edge for another 48 minutes in Loud City (although I am not putting it past them).

Cheers to Fox’s likely return, and to another great chapter in the league’s best rivalry.

Game 2: OKC 122 SAS 113

J.R.

It’s never been a stretch to call playoff basketball a chess match. (I’ll bet someone made the comparison as far back as the 60’s.) But if it’s largely true, then it’ll be specifically true for any series. If it’s definitely true, then it’ll be phenomenally true for a series that conventional wisdom said would be epic before it even began. So let’s look at the chess moves made by the coaches and the players Wednesday night.

In order to fully evaluate a game of chess, you have to understand the context in which it was played. Same with basketball, so the place setting for Game 2 includes a quick cap of Game 1. The Spurs didn’t play particularly well with tons of turnovers and poor shooting but OKC shot well from deep. SA dominated the glass and got 10 more free throws. Chapagnie, Vassell, Harper, and Castle shot 8-33 from 3pt and the Spurs still won. SGA had what could be expected to be his worst game of the series; San Antonio turned the ball over a ton and hemorrhaged transition points, but won anyway, which set up round two in Oklahoma.

The biggest move from Game 1 to Game 2 was MD’s decision to place one of his knights, Hartenstein, on the opposition’s queen, Wemby, with the instructions that no holds are barred. This was the biggest move of the game and all others pale by comparison. Freed from having to defend the pivot, the other knight, Caruso, was a terror all over the court. Knights move oddly, show up where they’re not expected, and are difficult to nail down. The incisive use of Thunder’s supplemental pieces tilted the game their way.

But the match wasn’t decided. The rooks were in play, and they were making themselves felt when one was taken out from each side. JDub and Harper left the game with injuries and without being able to expect either’s return, the series will likely not be the same. Without a major piece to support his most powerful piece, Daigneault leaned on SGA, his most powerful piece, and was not disappointed.

What did you see as the second match went to the home team, and what do you expect from match number three?

Cray

I love the chess analogy, but I’d call Game 2 closer to a round of “Chesskers: We Gave the Checkers a Pieces a Gun” (yes, that’s a real game). Hartenstein didn’t just provide more physicality against Wemby; he applied all his might to block, hold, lane screen, pull, smack, pin, and spend as many hard playoff fouls as the refs afforded him. That he hit some pretty moonball floaters over Wemby’s umbilicals made him look a little more like a chess piece at times. That Daigneault didn’t just use his championship starting center to guard the tallest starting center in the NBA *at all* for Game 1 made the adjustment less brilliant.

And who better to fill in for both Spurs Rooks than San Antonio’s Castle? Well, Stephon Castle is more of a gunslinger than a finesse piece. The guy is powerful, applying enough brute force and speed to keep Shai from breaking into space, and yamming all over Hartenstein for one of the fiercest dunks of the season (iHart’s hair pull on Castle, if even 1% accidentally-on-purpose, was the furthest thing from a power move). Castle can sling lethal passes to the corners and lob grenades for Wemby to detonate from the highest rung of the ladder, but he can’t keep a live dribble or make clean passes against the Thunder pack of defenders for the duration of the game. Now averaging 10 turnovers in the series, Castle is being tasked with work that De’Aaron Fox and Dylan Harper have been underappreciated for.

In the 18 minutes Castle shared the court with Harper, the Spurs were +6. In his other 20 minutes, they were -17. When Caruso and Cason Wallace smell blood, ball handlers are never safe.

If Williams is out, Daigneault won’t even have the Mighty Mouse in the House option outside of Alex Caruso’s minutes. I expect the Spurs to find ways to get Wemby back on the prowl, and/or for different officiating crews to blow the whistle more. Wembanyama earned about 7 fewer free throws per-36 than normal, and SGA was down about 4 attempts per-36. I also expect San Antonio to get a needed boost of energy from their home crowd after such a demanding open to the series. They have to be tired. Shoot, I’m tired just watching.

Both teams seem poised to maintain sky-high intensity all series, but now it’s OKC’s turn to try and keep their oomph for 48 minutes on the road. They’ll need another night of steady shotmaking to steal the first in San Antonio, and not just from Shai. And as fluid and effective as the Spurs have been flying around on defense, they haven’t generated many of the live ball turnovers that can power huge runs and overwhelm the opponent.

Game 3: OKC 123 SAS 108

J.R.

After running out to a 15 point lead, the Spurs were outscored by 30 points in about 45 minutes. After the game there were a multitude of ideas tumbling through my head, and when I woke up I found that the tangle of thoughts had been kindly organized into several discrete easily numerated actions. So I decided to make a list.

J.R. Wilco’s Realistic Dos and Don’ts

Prioritize Fox/Harper/Castle in PNRs with Wemby
Feed Wemby when he’s close to the hole
Stay on the ground on SGA fakes
Get the ball to Wemby on the move

Don’t

Leave guys alone on the three point line (unless you are Wemby, and it better not be Caruso)
Turn the ball over so much
Just stand around at the three point line
Forget what got you here

I call this list realistic because I’ve only chosen things that the team has already demonstrated that it can do against the Thunder. What do you think of the list and what is your reaction to Game 3?

Cray

That’s a pretty good list. I’m riding pretty high after that win, but I know that there are several of those correctable items that San Antonio coukd very well fix. After Game 2, I was prepared for an energy and momentum swing to boost the Spurs at home. It clearly did for those first five minutes, but I couldn’t believe it evaporated before the second quarter was finished.

I would guess a mixture of exhaustion, inexperience, and personnel are to blame for the Spurs falling apart after that 15-0 burst. Fox and Harper could get healthier. San Antonio can get Wemby moving to his most effective. And the home crowd+postseason desperation could put the wind back in their sails.

What I am less sure of: whether more disciplined defense on Shai will actually slow him down. As he did in the first two rounds, he’s mastering the most aggressive and attentive defensive looks as the series goes on. San Antonio might lay off more and foul less, but that doesn’t mean he won’t punish them with more buckets. Give SGA an inch and he’ll take a mile, whether that’s room for his jumper, illegal limbs in his airspace, or freedom for his teammates.

Do you think the rest of the series will be dictated more by the bench play, or more by Shai and Wemby?

J.R.

Sounds like you’re saying, “Exhaustion, inexperience and personnel issues: ladies and gentlemen, it’s your 2025-2026 San Antonio Spurs!” and I’m not even all that sure I can disagree — assuming that those personnel issues are referring to injuries. Amazing what taking on the defending champs can do to a team, isn’t it?

And I’m sure you are riding high, I know I was during that 15-0 run. Isn’t it something how when a run extends like that it’s hard to imagine your team ever missing again, or the opponent ever making. And vice versa. It’s the same between games too. Right now, even a single win seems improbable, but that’s considering that only what has happened will happen. Since we don’t know what’s being cooked up, we’re left with supposition which leaves things murky. One thing is clear though, there’s no denying that adjustments are required.

As to your question, there are two options. Either San Antonio finds a way to make Wemby’s minutes so productive that they can weather any run OKC makes when he rests (see above list), or the bench finds a way to hang with the Thunder in the non-Vic minutes. The odds may be stacked against both of those, but I’d say the first is the most likely.

What we’ve seen all year is Wembanyama experiencing obstacles before shifting tactics or adjusting mindset or coordinating with teammates, and then going on an epic run that rewrites history books and looks inevitable in hindsight. It’s happened in the micro (during the second half of games to come back from huge deficits) and in the macro (during the post-All Star Break when the team went 37-3 when Wemby played).

Here’s my question: how much of OKC’s bench play do you think is sustainable through an entire series?

Cray

You teed up my favorite wonky Thunder question, which has been my hobby horse (or dead horse, maybe) all year: whether the role players can hold up throughout the most crucial postseason stretches. OKC has really underperformed on offense in both their 2024 & 2025 runs, particularly from behind the arc. Until now, they’ve been very good in the regular season, and very human during the playoffs--succeding despite shooting variability rather than because of it. This season has been their least reliant on three-point shooting as a contender, and I’ve wondered if they were leaning into the two-pointer by design or necessity this time around.

My working theory: Shai’s midrange brilliance, and their stated premium placed on absolute shot quality over the three-pointer as the best option, has moved their floor and ceiling higher on offense. In past playoffs, the opposing defense could funnel more and more shots to Lu Dort and Josh Giddey. With the development of Jaylin Williams and the addition of Jared McCain, the Prince of OKC’s Disney Process, the range of players capable of getting hot when the ball is forced out of Shai’s hands has expanded significantly. So far, at least. I know that the Thunder role players will maintain elite effort and defense. For the first time in forever, I believe they will maintain their shooting.

I can feel the Spurs fans getting bored, so I’ll move on. Now that we know Ajay Mitchell (out) and Jalen Williams (questionable, but very doubtful in my opinion) won’t be around for at least another game, OKC’s bench and starters are blending together. The reserves won’t be scoring 70+ points again, but they’ll at least keep the scoring advantage against the struggling Kornet and Keldon club.

And to rejoin your other point: Wemby’s capacity to rewrite NBA history and basketball physics is the true x factor from here on out in my view. If I were you, I would love seeing Wemby and Mitch Johnson dismissing free throw & fouling gripes after these losses to focus instead on what they can do better to get back to winning. NBC showed Wemby warming up with trainers pulling and grabbing him in the post--that’s the right stuff.

If I thought Fox and Harper were really right, I’d pick SAS to easily even it up in Game 4. With the short rest and big minutes still necessary for the shortened Spurs rotation, I’m bracing for another game going down to the wire. I gotta stick with my pre-series pick of Thunder in 5 as long as it has legs, but I’m prepared to be wrong.

What’s your pick? And has it changed from what you thought before the series?

J.R.

As soon as you ask me for my prediction, I immediately think back to the 2012 Spurs versus Thunder Western Conference Finals when I traveled to Oklahoma City to stay with my sister’s family and cover the games. I was but a naïve editor-in-chief then, (only having taken over PtR in 2012) and had no idea of the heartbreak that was in store for me. San Antonio had won the first two games at home and there was no hint whatsoever of what was about to befall the Spurs.

They were dominated. For four straight games Oklahoma City showed that they were the superior team. They were more physical and they scored more easily than San Antonio. After being up 2-0, there was rarely a moment in the next four games where I felt comfortable that the Spurs had been able to figure out the new status quo of the series.

I spent those four games trusting that Popovich would “figure it out.” After the series and over the next summer I realized that you can’t figure out a way to play differently than you have all season. There are wrinkles you can put in place and adjustments that can be made but playing style is something you prepare through the course of the season, and can’t be changed on the fly.

These are the thoughts that I was thinking before the series when I realized that I simply couldn’t imagine San Antonio playing differently than they had when they won three games against a mostly-healthy Thunder team. But now that it’s obvious that the status quo of the series is not the same as it was in December, my prediction is entirely based on Game 4.

Usually, it is the odd-numbered games that define a playoff series in the NBA, but I’m gonna know everything I need to know about the rest of the series in the first 12 minutes of Sunday night‘s game. If the Spurs have a different way to: a) handle the physicality, b) contain SGA without allowing role players to go off, and c) consistently create offense, then I believe the series can go to seven games and be up for grabs.

But if OKC has a sizable lead going into the second quarter, then I would expect the series to be over in five or six games. Forcing San Antonio to take the next step of their development over the off-season and the next couple years, just as the 2012 San Antonio Spurs had to.

Game 4: SAS 103 OKC 82

J.R.

The playoffs are filled with ups and downs. Like I said before Sunday’s game, after a loss, you feel like you’ll never win. So the time from Friday night to Sunday afternoon was pretty low for most Spurs fans. You’re staring down the barrel of a potential 1-3 series deficit and you’re doing that knowing that a game-starting 15-point run wasn’t enough to avoid losing by 15.

As Sunday’s game began and the home team ramped up the defense to a pace that’d match the metabolism of a pygmy shrew, my unease decreased, but not much. The Spurs had played well but they didn’t have much separation, and they’d missed 6 free throws in the first half. Even worse, as OKC chipped away at the lead, it started to feel like a replay of Game 3.

Then Wemby hit an immaculate halfcourt shot at the buzzer and suddenly everything changed. Going into the locker room up 12 is a massive difference from going in up just 9, but that wasn’t all. That heave from the logo was more than just a half court shot. It was the validation of the team’s efforts personified in Wemby and represented on the scoreboard. It was a cleansing of doldrums and a declaration of how the second half would go. It was an audacious act of a ferocious fling. That it went in felt predetermined. That it was a swish felt like a miracle.

I asked for the team to make adjustments and they did. The main one being how they reduced/altered the doubles on Shai, which definitely had an effect of forcing other guys to make plays instead of just catching and shooting open jumpers. I expected MD to come out of intermission with an adjustment of his own, but the second half was just more of the same.

Now we’re back where we started with an even series, but after four games, neither team is healthy and that looms large as we head back to OKC. Did Game 4 tell you anything about how the Thunder can play with just one playmaker? What worries you and what gives you hope?

Cray

How was it just two days ago that Spurs fans felt this way?

I’m not bothered that San Antonio ran away with a home win while facing down a 3-1 hole. I’m worried that Oklahoma City couldn’t buy a clean look, pass, or whistle on offense — things their second and third-best playmaker would theoretically help out with if they weren’t both stuck on the injury report. A soleus strain, suffered by Ajay Mitchell in Game 3 has already ruled him out for Game 5. And even if Jalen Williams somehow gets cleared to come back from his fourth hamstring injury in as many months, I would be worried about reinjury every second he played.

Aside from all that misery, I’m taking heart in a 2-2 series, the bounceback capabilities of Shai and the Thunder bench, and the reality that crazy things happen in the playoffs. Shai has always been OKC’s hope, and I still believe. SGA will find a way to look more like himself, even as the sole playmaker. Game 5 will be even more intense for players and fans to head into, as will Game 6 and/or Game 7. Potentially more ups and downs than I can prepare for.

Welcome back to the playoffs, J.R. Do you think we’re going to survive years of this rivalry?

J.R.

It certainly is a place of misery that a fan walks through after a game like that. My wife watched with me last night and she commented on the way the OKC players looked on the bench in the fourth, particularly Holmgren. I had to tell her that Chet looking miserable on the bench wasn’t news because that’s how his face has been all series so far. When he sits, I mean. You’d have to tell me what his face looks like when he plays because it’s like I’ve barely seen it. Is he actually disappearing or is it just me?

As to what this series will do to us over the years, how can I answer that when I can’t even tell where I’ll be emotionally one game from now! Let’s review the series so far through the lens of my mental and emotional well being. I thought I liked the Spurs chances coming into G1, but while I watched, my body reacted like I’d just jumped into ice cold water. Heart rate through the roof and no hope of controlling it. Spurs win, and I’m on top of the world while ignoring all of the warning signs. After a loss in another close game, I’m convinced that there’s nothing to worry about because SA takes the first at home. After that failed to happen, there’s no hope because OKC took the Spurs’ best punch. Now the series is even and I’m suspecting that there’s not much the Thunder can do because they lack ball handling and initiating. Does any of this seem healthy to you? I guess there’s a reason we’ve shortened the word ‘fanatic’ to fan – it’s so that we can forget its origins are in extremes: a person with an extreme, uncritical, and often irrational enthusiasm or devotion to something.

How is your fanatic’s heart handling this, where do you see room for improvement, and what do you expect from Game 5?

Cray

Chet always looks haggard on the bench, because he throws that frail body around fearlessly. The delay in action due to his bloodied finger is nothing new for OKC fans – we’ve even got a Twitter account dedicated to tracking whether he got hit in the face each game. Holmgren does look extra deflated, but he is playing with incredible energy and impact on defense. Per databaller, he’s been the fourth most frequent Wemby defender these playoffs; outside of racking up fouls, Holmgren has done the best job of any big trusted to guard the alien for more than 25 possessions. He’s done that while also holding the rest of the Spurs rotation players not named Dylan Harper under 50% True Shooting. San Antonio has a 106 offensive rating when Holmgren’s on the court.

What it takes to exert that force on both ends, against these Spurs, is more to blame than any lack of edge or determination from Chet. But it is showing up more on offense. Also nothing new for Thunder fans: wanting Holmgren to attack as a playmaker more when the guard rotation is thin. We were upset that he only bumped his scoring average (17.1ppg on the season) up by 1.2 points when Ajay and JDub were both out in February and March – seeing it drop to 11.3 against the Spurs is...what’s the word...deflating.

I don’t know if it’s realistic to expect him to put the ball on the floor against these guards, but he can at least be a more willing three-point shooter. He’s taking the fewest threes (2.3 per game) of his career, fewer than he has against any other postseason opponent. For a team desperate for points, a little chucking could go a long way. Of course some of that’s the Wemby effect, but there’s no one on OKC with a higher release point to try and get those off aggressively.

I’m done guessing how any game will play out, but I’m predicting we’re going 7. I can only concur with Dr. Wilco’s diagnosis: we are unhealthy fanatics. So I’m staying very up on my blood pressure medication as prescribed by my IRL doctor, and might pop an extra before Game 5.

Game 5: SAS 103 OKC 82

J.R.

The night that Wemby misses a dunk in transition isn’t your night. The night that Castle smokes a wide open layup isn’t your night. And when the refs miss an OKC goal tending call plus two out of bounds calls (one that Mitch Johnson tried to challenge and they didn’t grant resulting in a three-point play on the other end, including Mitch’s tech) then you might want to consider the possibility that the evening in question doesn’t belong to you.

I’m not going to gripe about the calls the refs make because once you start that it’ll never end. Literally. You become convinced that the refs and the league are against your team and down that path, madness lies. And by madness, I mean becoming convinced that every call that goes against you is part of a conspiracy that the league has to fulfill vengeance against your team for some undefined grievance. I know, because I lived that. But that’s a story for another day.

So I don’t let myself go there again, but I do allow myself to criticize the systems the league has in place, because the league changes rules and that can make the games more fair. (Or at least more difficult to complain about.) Point in case, I griped about Zaza Pachulia sliding under Kawhi Leonard and taking him out of the series. Then they changed the rule. Now shooters are protected. You might say they’re overly protected, but there’s not such thing as a “make it fair” button. It’s either going to be too dangerous or too safe. So, you might as well err on the side of safety.

Here’s my new gripe. The league needs to have a button that coaches can press to stop the play from starting or a flag to throw on the court. That way we’re not subject to refs hearing or acknowledging a coach in order for a challenge to officially granted.

How about you? What gripe do you have that a new rule would alleviate and improve the game?

Cray

One thing I hope we can agree on: the San Antonio and Oklahoma City markets are not where Adam Silver and the NBA want to conspire to. The reason the league will run through our teams is that they have acquired and developed the best talent, without needing the free agency and trade levers used by bigger market teams that used to rule the league. (Lakers, Clippers, Rockets, Wolves, and Warriors, to name a few). The teams that the Thunder and Spurs have left in the dust.

I’d be okay with giving coaches a cleaner play stoppage lever for challenges. Teams already stall and delay the game while coaches decide whether to call timeout and twirl their fingers, which feels silly to watch as a viewer.

I’m actually against rule changes by default. I’m a bigger believer in the law of unintended consequences than I am of the idea we can shape the way the game looks and feels with more policy work.

I much prefer legitimate points of emphasis within the rulebook. In the second half of the 2023-2024 season, the refs obviously started swallowing their whistle to allow defenders to crowd and all-but-handcheck perimeter offensive players. It pissed everyone off because they denied it loudly in public before quietly acknowledging in a league memo to the governors. Then in the 2024 offseason, the NBA told its teams that this was the new reality: referees would be using their judgement to favor more physical and contact-heavy play, slowing the runaway offensive numbers getting juiced by three-point spamming.

Rick Carlisle warned us. Teams like the Pacers, Thunder, and Spurs leaned into the advantages that physical defenders like Nembhard, Nesmith, Caruso, Cason, Castle, and Vassell gave them. Fans watching their teams get ripped to shreds by these elite modern defenses aren’t blaming their front offices, of course, because blaming the refs is a much more soothing pastime.

So I’m dubious of rule changes, but I don’t hate change. What I hate is the unwillingness to make things better within the rules. We all know that the typical summer “points of emphasis” usually last through the preseason and then fade away when the games matter. Meanwhile there are tools to counter plenty of things jeopardizing the competition and NBA product; the league just doesn’t use them. Cap circumvention. The rot of gambling influence. Flopping fines. Injuries to stars piling up in the war against DNP-TV. But instead, the league is spending most of its fix-it energies concocting a new formula for ping pong balls.

It definitely wasn’t your night, just like Game 4 wasn’t ours. I’m surprised that the consensus reaction is that we’ve advanced even further into the greatest chess match ever. Don’t you think it’s more simply that the teams with the most desperation have played much better at home? That’s how I’d chalk up most of the individual performances, including from our two most valuable players: Victor Wembanyama and Jared McCain

J.R.

There is definitely room for the chess match, no doubt. And I’ll tell you that I’ve dived deeper into the pool of analysis videos in an attempt to better understand the tactics behind this game I’ve been watching for the last 40-some years. (Wow that’s a long time.) But Tuesday night seemed to pivot largely on effort. So many plays were made by OKC in which the same force just wasn’t being exerted by the visiting team in general, and oddly Wemby specifically.

There were far too many plays where I expected Vic to elevate and swat the ball away from the basket, but he just watched his opponent take a trip to the rim. Definitely not what I’ve grown accustomed to over the year, and I think I have to put my vote in the “he’s exhausted” group.

Oddly, that doesn’t make me feel less optimistic about Game 6. After the Thunder win in San Antonio, I found myself having issues maintaining my hope, but I don’t feel that right now. Maybe that’s delusion, but it feels like San Antonio will take the next one. I’m definitely concerned about his Game 7 but why should I even be thinking about that when the Spurs are facing elimination for the first time since DeMar DeRozan was a Spur? Maybe I’m exhausted too.

Ok, tell me what concerns you about G6 and how you’re dealing with it.

Cray

To be clear, I love the Thunder’s chances to win one of two. I’m in the “Wemby’s exhausted” camp with you, and San Antonio hasn’t put together two straight games with the intensity needed to best the champs. The Thunder have thinned, but they’re still deeper and fresher. And I believe in Shai+whoever to land a knockout punch, given two shots at the up and comers.

There’s still plenty of cause for concern. Game 5’s offensive explosion masked some cracks in the defense for OKC, which had kept them in the series through four. An elimination Game 6 should be the boost of all boosts for the Spurs, even if they’re gassed. And if you get to a Game 7, anything can happen. Cold shooting. Foul trouble. Injury. Lemon booty. And if it’s close, the kind of game-deciding bad call we’ve somehow avoided so far. The kind of stuff you can’t get over for 40 years of fandom. And all of that is more likely with Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell still unavailable.

Outside of random, crazy, heartbreaking playoff possibilities, both Wemby and Dylan Harper still scare me. The Spurs hung close for most of Game 5 with both of them struggling. Wemby digging deep to find another gear is something the greats all eventually get around to. Harper could recover more health, or energy, or confidence, whatever combination of those things are holding him back.

Though I do sense a shift in the Spurs’ self-belief, an essential part of what has made them so great this season. I told you I admired you that Wemby practicing against simulation hack-a-defense and Mitch Johnson’s refusal to make excuses after Game 2. I’ll add to the list Devin Vassell’s jovial comments about each team getting away with what the refs allow after Game 4. I’m not going to pile on Stephon Castle for complaining about the whistle, or Wemby for skipping the postgame, or Thunder legend Mason Plumlee for doing goonwork in Game 5’s closing moments (as quoted by NBA media correspondent and TikTok sensation, Jared McCain). But taken together, I don’t think the vibes from the Spurs reek of confidence and composure as they face down elimination.

Game 6: OKC SAS 118 OKC 91

J.R.

I’m so excited because … it’s cliche picking time! Shall we go with all the marbles? Or do you prefer win or go home? Maybe put up or shut up? Possibly winner takes all? While I like the whole nine yards, it sounds football related, even though it isn’t, and that’s more about intensity and extent and less about finality. Here, I’ve got it: we’re headed to Game 7 for the whole shebang. Yeah, that’s the stuff. A little light-hearted, kinda quirky but gets the job done. Perfect!

Speaking of perfect, I feel like the first half of G6 was just what we needed from this series. It was more like G1 and if there’s anything better than two powerhouse squads going blow for blow through four quarters, I don’t know what it is. If I can’t get an entire game of it, 24 minutes will have to do. Seems like we’ve kinda been making do since that gem of a game two Sundays ago when it took two overtimes to decide it.

After kind of losing their way in Game 5, when the Spurs only got Wemby the ball with a chance to both pass or score (i.e. non-lob opportunities) on 25% of their plays, they ratcheted things up and took that stat to 54% on Thursday night. That’s a huge shift and I found that even though I was hoping for Victor to live in the lane again like he did in G1, there were enough clever San Antonio plays that I didn’t miss it.

Unfortunately, OKC’s shooting didn’t travel well which deprived us of another all-timer. But both teams’ road shooting has been disgusting recently, and I don’t know that I can expect that to change since Game 7’s are famously poor-shooting affairs what with everyone emptying the tank because there’s no tomorrow for the losers. Whoops, one of the cliches snuck out of the first paragraph.

Alright, I’m interested in hearing from you about what you saw on the last game, and what kind of game you expect on Saturday night.

Cray

Gosh, that double overtime Game 1 feels like a lifetime ago. It’s been so thrilling to write through such an epic series with you, even if the games haven’t been down to the wire much since that opener.

I wouldn’t be shocked by a rock fight to conclude the Western Conference Finals for the reasons you mention. I do wonder, though, if the relatively fresh legs from the Thunder (for everyone except Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell, sadly) and the last gasp from the Spurs could propel us to a more high powered finish. There was no drama that would lead to a letdown for the Spurs, and low minutes were had by all the Thunder players thanks to the blowout.

I don’t know if I’ve studied the series too much or am just out of ideas, but my analysis hasn’t changed much. Here’s my copy/paste pregame analysis of Game 6, which still sounds about right to me:

“Game 5’s offensive explosion masked some cracks in the defense for OKC, which had kept them in the series through four. An elimination Game 6 should be the boost of all boosts for the Spurs, even if they’re gassed...Wemby digging deep to find another gear is something the greats all eventually get around to. Harper could recover more health, or energy, or confidence, whatever combination of those things are holding him back.”

Wemby, Harper, and the jackals delivered for San Antonio. Shai, Chet, and tragically, JDub couldn’t for Oklahoma City.

And here’s where I was at ahead of Game 5, the last time the Spurs clawed back even with the Thunder:

“I’m taking heart in [an even] series, the bounceback capabilities of Shai and the Thunder bench, and the reality that crazy things happen in the playoffs. Shai has always been OKC’s hope, and I still believe. SGA will find a way to look more like himself, even as the sole playmaker.”

We’ve been here before, and Shai has always found a way. He’s got less help than ever, against the most formidable defensive matchup he’s faced in his postseason career. Seven games is a long time for him to crack the code, but it’s not yet too late.

I’m curious if you agree with Stephon Castle’s assessment after Game 6: has the WCF shown the Spurs to be “collectively” better than the Thunder in your eyes, or have they been fortunate to hang with OKC without their second best player virtually all series?

J.R.

The first thing I remind myself of when I hear an athlete talking about something related to confidence is that this is a person that is literally paid to maintain a positive attitude in the face of often ridiculous odds. Here’s an example, the Spurs were down 20 points in the fourth quarter of a game this year and came back to win. How ridiculous is that? How incredibly short must your memory be to keep taking shots when they have all been missing, while still expecting that the next one is going to go in?

This is part of the reason that it’s not just talent and size that separates us from professional athletes, there’s a mindset difference that is a big part of the equation. And that’s the kind of sodium chloride that I season with, because sometimes a pinch isn’t enough, and you need to take things with a grain silo of salt.

As far as whether the Spurs have been good or fortunate, I’m with the girl from the Old El Paso ad: Why not both? Once San Antonio had solidified themselves in the second seed in the Western Conference, there was a lot of talk about how they wouldn’t go very far in the playoffs because they lacked experience. And then an increasing number of NBA analysts began backtracking from that point of view. But there was enough noise in that chorus that the Spurs began championing their lack of experience. There were comments made about how they had no experience and they were proud of it and how experiences is overrated or unnecessary.

I guess that kind of talk is helpful in the same way that the guys who had to guard Michael Jordan found it useful to think of themselves as the best players in the world instead of MJ. (I’m certain Vernon Maxwell felt that way!) After all, how successful can someone be trying to defend the goat while thinking that they shouldn’t even be on the court with him? So when I hear Castle say that, I don’t mind, but I’m also not investing in it. Of course San Antonio has benefited from Oklahoma City’s injuries. Just like the Thunder has benefited from San Antonio trying to figure out who they are on the fly and from Fox and Harper being hobbled. To say otherwise would be silly.

Speaking of silly, I feel myself getting excited for the game like I was for the series before it began, which makes no sense as these teams have now being playing each other for almost two weeks! What have been your favorite parts of the series so far, and what have you least enjoyed?

Cray

Jared McCain’s flurries, especially Game 3. Not just because of how lovable a personality and player he is, but because of how chaotic the Thunder have been pushed to play thanks to their injuries and opponent both. McCain was not Plan A, *or* B for the Thunder rotation, but worked his way into the starting rotation with fearlessness and off the bounce juice that they so sorely needed.

This postseason has become an inverse of last regular season for OKC, health-wise. In 2024-25, Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein missed huge chunks of the season while JDub and Alex Caruso led the small ball Thunder to keep enforcing their defensive will on the league’s frontcourts.

Those wings played the Mighty Mouse in the House role while their teammates scrapped and clawed at entry passes, gathers, and uh-oh kickouts when other teams fed their big trying to press the size advantage. Now underhanded in the backcourt, McCain has been the surprise next man up.

When McCain repeatedly took Kornet and Wemby to the cup in that Game 3, I was beside myself. Our smiley little prince had in fact come to slay giants.

The brief one-on-one possessions between Shai and Wemby have been another favorite, especially since SGA has tipped Vic over a couple times. I would love to see that matchup down the stretch in a close Game 7. I can already envision the slowmo shot of the ball barely clearing outstretched arms on a Shai jumper to win or lose the game–or to watch Wemby close the gap that looked to be available for the Clutch Player of the Year’s hero shot.

Honorable mentions: Isaiah Hartenstein’s impossibly accurate rainbow floaters skying higher and higher over Wemby, and Cason Wallace’s rude ripped dribbles from Dylan Harper in the full court.

What about your favorite moments and performances? I’d imagine it would be hard for much to come close to that transcendent Wemby Game 1.

J.R.

Wemby’s exploits are always eye-catching, and it really is astounding how often he does something I’ve never seen before. The average play is Wemby going full steam down the lane into a spin move that he finishes while traveling at near full speed with his left hand as he flies past the backboard. The extraordinary play is when he pulls up from half court at the end of a half and nails, a 43 footer that nearly everybody I’ve talked to about it says that they knew was good as soon as it left his hand.

Early in the series, there were terrific plays by Harper before his injury largely took him out of his scoring in Games 2 through 5, although his defense and rebounding allowed him to keep contributing as he healed. Now he seems back to terrorizing ball handlers, driving for dunks and pulling up for jumpers all over the floor.

I’ve loved Castle’s bowling ball routine and his relentless defense. I’ve appreciated Vassell’s pinpoint shooting and his perfectly timed blocks on the much taller Holmgren. KJ’s renaissance and energy has kept the Spurs in games. And before Champagnie’s shooting came back around, his defense and intelligent play have been the setting while his timely drives for buckets have been the diamond.

Maybe most of all there’s been the chess match we discussed before; the one that has only gotten more complicated now that we’re at the ultimate game. OKC has installed entire play sets to lift Wemby out of the weak side corner so he can’t help on drives, and San Antonio has pulled Wemby away from rebounding during free throws to the front court prep lightning quick attacks because it’s safe to assume that Shai won’t miss from the line. Finally, the wrinkles that San Antonio unveiled in Game 6 with an early flare screen leading to a high pick and roll from the left side created a whole series of scoring opportunities that OKC have yet to show they can defend.

Which brings us to today’s concluding game where we’ll see if Wemby can go off again and lift his young team into the Finals, or whether OKC thrills their home crowd and sends the visitors back to Texas to plan for next season. It’s peak BBIQ and elite execution and while I wanted to see the Spurs advance after 5 or 6, I can’t say I’m sorry it’s come down to the best of seven. Thanks for accompanying me on the journey. All the best to you.