When the NBA playoffs began, this was the series everyone circled, if it were to materialize. The defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder, with the league’s best regular-season record (64-18), will face the up-and-coming San Antonio Spurs, with the league’s second-best regular-season record (62-20).
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While this year’s playoffs have featured some upsets and four Game 7s, there haven’t been a ton of truly memorable moments. Given the star power and records of both of these teams in the West, that could change with this series. It also wouldn’t be that shocking if the Thunder brushed aside their young opponents with ease.
Oklahoma City is favored to advance past San Antonio at -260 odds on DraftKings, implying the Thunder are more than 70 percent likely to win the series. Let’s see what Game 1 has in store.
Game 1: San Antonio Spurs at Oklahoma City Thunder
TV: NBC/Peacock
Time: Monday, 8:30 p.m. ET
Series odds: Thunder -260, Spurs +210
Monday’s Game 1 could be the kind of game that NBA fans look back on and mark as the start of an era-defining rivalry.
The Thunder are the defending champions, armed with two-time MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and a young core around him. They are favored to win the title this season, and it’s hard to envision the end of their contention window. Gilgeous-Alexander is 27, and the five other players who averaged double figures in scoring in the regular season are younger.
The Spurs are the new challengers, led by generational center Victor Wembanyama and an even younger core around him that is developing quickly this postseason. The third-year French star is 22, and the oldest of the Spurs’ regular starters is 28-year-old De’Aaron Fox. Second-year wing Stephon Castle is 21 and a key part of the team’s core. Rookies Carter Bryant and Dylan Harper are getting regular rotation minutes this postseason.
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Things often change unexpectedly in the NBA, but it’s hard to find other teams in the league that are better constructed for the present and future than these two.
All that’s to say, this series has a chance to be awesome, and it’s easy to think there will be more playoff series between these teams in the near future.
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The Thunder are favored by 6.5 points in Game 1. That’s a mid-sized margin, but much smaller than the regular double-digit spreads the Thunder have been giving throughout the first two rounds of the playoffs.
The Spurs won the regular-season series 4-1, including an NBA Cup semifinal in December. That NBA Cup win, plus two more against the Thunder later that month, including one on the road on Christmas, helped announce the Spurs as contenders. Since that run, NBA fans have been wondering what a playoff series between the Thunder and Spurs would look like. Now, we get to find out.