Despite a record-setting start to the season, the Oklahoma City Thunder have spent the last three weeks reminding us of a simple truth: they are not invincible.
That reality does not mean OKC is no longer the NBA’s best team or that they are suddenly unfit for another title run. They are still very much championship-caliber. But a 3–4 stretch over their last seven games, including three losses to the San Antonio Spurs, has exposed something talent alone cannot mask.
There is a difference between confidence and comfort. Between belief and urgency. And sometimes, between winning and losing, lies something less tangible but just as important: emotion.
The Thunder’s uneasy relationship with rivalries is not new. It dates back to the 2023–24 season, when OKC met the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference Semifinals. That series ended in heartbreak for Thunder fans, with Dallas closing things out in Game 6 on their home floor. It was not a fluke. The Mavericks beat the Thunder in a physical, competitive series where urgency clearly favored one side.
OKC entered the following season with renewed expectations and national belief that they were ready to reach the summit. And for a while, it showed. Through 44 games, the Thunder sprinted to a 36–8 record and looked every bit the part of a future champion.
Then came Dallas again.
Despite the fresh wounds from the postseason, OKC dropped three of four regular-season matchups to the Mavericks. You would expect that history alone would sharpen the Thunder’s edge. It did not.
“It’s personal. I think it’s the start of a healthy rivalry,” Kyrie Irving said after one Mavericks win, referencing the physicality and intensity between the teams.
Dallas played with an edge that OKC simply did not match. Even during OKC’s eventual championship run, the Mavericks remained the aggressor. The Thunder ultimately hoisted the Larry O’Brien Trophy, but context matters. Dallas was never truly built to win a title, especially after trading Luka Dončić to Los Angeles.
This season, however, presents a very different problem.
San Antonio is not sneaking up on Oklahoma City. They are staring them down.
The Thunder have dropped three games to the Spurs in a two-week span, and the underlying tone of those losses is impossible to ignore. Victor Wembanyama, in particular, has made it clear where his focus lies. Whether directly or indirectly, his comments reflect a competitive edge that feels personal.
When asked about comparisons and rivalry talk involving Chet Holmgren, Wembanyama dismissed the notion entirely.
“No, I don’t think about that. At least from a basketball standpoint, there’s no comparison,” he said.
Later, when discussing how San Antonio prepares for OKC, Wembanyama shifted attention away from Holmgren altogether.
“He’s our main focus. Anybody is hard to guard when you have to help on the MVP,” he said, referencing Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
On paper, those quotes are calm. But beneath them is intent.
Despite that intent, OKC has responded the same way it always does. Calm. Process-driven. Nonchalant. Head coach Mark Daigneault and Gilgeous-Alexander have built a culture rooted in emotional control, and most of the time, it works. As I mentioned in AfterWords, about 95 percent of the time, that approach is a strength.
The other five percent can be costly.
Against San Antonio, it has been.
The Thunder lost those three games by an average of 12.3 points and often looked out of answers. Wembanyama. Devin Vassell. Stephon Castle. De’Aaron Fox. The Spurs dictated pace, tone, and emotion, while OKC stuck rigidly to its usual game-day process.
San Antonio beating the Thunder with that level of ease may not shift the regular-season standings, but it absolutely matters in a postseason context. In every matchup, the Thunder appeared tentative. Controlled. Almost polite.
Sports are not played on spreadsheets. They are fueled by urgency, pride, and rivalry. And right now, San Antonio has more of all three.
In my view, Oklahoma City will continue to struggle against the Spurs until that emotional gap is addressed. San Antonio’s talent and roster construction matter, but so does their edge.
This is not last year’s Dallas situation. It is something different. And if the Thunder do not recognize that by January 13, they risk dropping a fourth game to the same opponent in a single month.
At that point, it will no longer feel like a coincidence.
