Spurs cruise past Thunder ahead of Christmas rematch, now account for 2 of OKC's 4 losses on the season
- - Spurs cruise past Thunder ahead of Christmas rematch, now account for 2 of OKC's 4 losses on the season
Jason Owens December 24, 2025 at 5:10 AM
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The Oklahoma City Thunder have now lost four games this season. The San Antonio Spurs account for half of those losses.
With Victor Wembanyama coming of the bench again, the Spurs rolled past the Thunder, 130-110 in San Antonio Tuesday night.
The loss drops the Thunder to 26-4 for the season, still the best record in the NBA by a significant margin. The Trail Blazers and Timberwolves account for the non-Spurs blemishes on their record.
The Spurs, meanwhile, improved to 22-7, good for second place in the West ahead of the 21-8 Denver Nuggets.
Are Spurs OKC's kryptonite?
San Antonio's first win of the series arrived in Las Vegas on Dec. 13 in an NBA Cup semifinal that was tinged with playoff intensity. That game was Wembanyama's first back from a 12-game absence with a calf injury, and the Spurs eased him back into the rotation off the bench.
Wembanyama remained limited with 23 minutes off the bench Tuesday night. No matter. A Spurs team that went 9-3 in Wembanyama's absence got contributions across the board to beat a reigning champion Thunder team that started the season on a historic pace.
The Spurs were dominant Tuesday night despite limited minutes from Victor Wembanyama. (Kenneth Richmond via Getty Images)
The two teams will run it back again on Christmas for the third game of the budding rivalry's season series. The venue will shift to Oklahoma City, where the Thunder will look to reassert their dominance in the West.
But for now, the Spurs have the Thunder's number. And it wasn't close Tuesday night.
Spurs break open close game after halftime
The first half was nip-and-tuck, and the Thunder went into halftime with a 60-58 lead. But the Spurs closed the third quarter with a 13-6 run to assert control and take an 87-82 lead.
Then in the fourth, a Wembanyama 3 extended the San Antonio lead to double figures for the first time at 98-86.
WEMBY STEPBACK THREESPURS UP A DOZEN pic.twitter.com/FAVVgoxRJ3
— WembyMuse (@Wemby_Muse) December 24, 2025
And it was all Spurs the rest of the way as they rolled to a 20-point win. By the time it was done, Wembanyama was able to watch from the bench and cheer as his teammates closed out the win.
Spurs are more than their All-Stars
San Antonio cruised Tuesday despite Wembanyama's limitations and a bad shooting night from All-Star guard De'Aaron Fox, who shot 0 for 4 from the free-throw line and 0 for 4 from beyond the arc in a 6-point, 9-assist effort.
But he didn't turn the ball over once on a night in which the the Spurs committed just 8 turnovers against a swarming Thunder unit that rode to last season's championship on the strength of its ball-hawking defense.
The Spurs played efficient basketball, protected the ball and got 20-plus points from three players not named Wembanyama or Fox. Keldon Johnson led the way with 25 points off the bench while shooting 10 of 16 from the floor and 5 of 9 from 3. Stephon Castle added 24 points, and Harrison Barnes scored 20 from the starting lineup.
Wembamyama, meanwhile, was impactful in his limited minutes while tallying 12 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and a plus-13 in the plus/minus column.
As a team, the Spurs shot 56% from the field. And they rode a 13-8 advantage in takeaways and an 18-6 edge in made free throws to victory on a night when the Thunder shot just seven free-throw attempts.
For the Thunder, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was his typical uber-efficient self with 33 points and 8 assists while shooting 14 of 22 from the field. Jalen Williams added 17 points, 8 assists and 6 rebounds, and the Thunder shot 54% as a team.
But Chet Holmgren struggled with 7 points and 3 rebounds on a 3-of-10 shooting night as Wembanyama got the best of matchup of the dynamic 7-footers.
He and his Thunder teammate will have their chance to answer back in just two days in front of a Thunder crowd that will surely be eager to greet the Spurs.
Source: “AOL Sports”
