Spurs Hand Thunder Third loss in 12 Days, 117-102

By Mike Prada, Shakeia Taylor, Jared weiss and James L.Edwards III

Once might be a fluke. Twice could be coincidence. But three times? Regrettably for the Oklahoma City Thunder,that’s a pattern.

In the marquee matchup of the NBA’s five-game Christmas slate, the San Antonio Spurs defeated the Thunder 117-102, handing the thunder their first home defeat of the season and their third loss to San Antonio in 12 days.

And the Spurs did it with relative ease. they took a double-digit lead with four and a half minutes left in the second quarter, and the Thunder never got closer than seven points the rest of the way.

De’Aaron Fox led the Spurs with 29 points, while Victor Wembanyama tallied 19 points and 11 rebounds in 26 minutes off the bench. The Spurs shot nearly 54 percent from the field, committed just 12 turnovers against the Thunder’s ferocious defense and held Oklahoma city to just 38.6 percent shooting in the victory.

since opening their defense of last season’s championship with 24 wins in their first 25 games, the Thunder have lost four of six, including three defeats to the Spurs. The first came by two points in the semifinals of the NBA Cup, a game that marked Wembanyama’s return from a calf strain.Then, the Spurs rode their home crowd to a 20-point blowout win Tuesday.

The Christmas matchup offered a chance for the Thunder to redeem themselves on their home court, where they had lost just six times this calendar year. Instead, they were on the back foot for the vast majority of the final three quarters.

Simultaneously occurring, the Spurs, at 23-7, suddenly look well ahead of schedule.This marked their eighth straight victory in NBA regular-season games (their loss to the Knicks in the NBA Cup final does not count in the standings).

The Thunder have a big problem

It was all good just a week ago.

Many thought the Oklahoma City Thunder couldn’t be beat and would cruise their way into another championship. But in less than a week’s time, Victor Wembanyama – on limited minutes – and the San Antonio Spurs have dismantled the idea.reigning league MVP Shai gilgeous-Alexander continued his 20-point game streak Thursday,but the thunder got down early in the first quarter and San Antonio never relinquished the lead.

The Houston Rockets and Denver Nuggets were already strong contenders to dethrone the Thunder out West, but the Spurs have shown other teams that OKC isn’t invincible. It turns out Gilgeous-Alexander won’t always sit out fourth quarters because the Thunder are up by 20.

In a game where the Thunder needed all of their starters to be as good as possible, shots just weren’t falling. No one other than Gilgeous-Alexander scored more than 13 points.

The last couple of games should serve as a wake up call for the Thunder. They’re going to need to figure out their very big San Antonio problem. -Shakeia Taylor, NBA staff writer

Are the Spurs the new team to beat?

When was the last time the balance of power in the NBA was reconfigured so swiftly like this?

Usually, it takes a catastrophic injury to rewrite the league’s story so suddenly. But after three consecutive wins over the Thunder in two weeks, the Spurs are unquestionably a title contender. It’s a shocking revelation for a team that was aiming for somewhere around the Play-In entering the season. But the results at this point are undeniable.

The Spurs are making a case for the best team in the NBA now. They are designed for max