Final
Boston Celtics at Detroit Pistons
113 – 121
2026-27 · Regular season
Interactive: Spurs vs. Thunder, the rematch — the seven-game West final in numbers, step by step
Scroll through the 2026 Western Conference finals before the Thunder visit the Spurs on opening night: seven games, a 789-763 series, Wembanyama's 27.3 points and 19 blocks, and what came after.
In this article
Victor Wembanyama at the 2025 NBA Cup in Las Vegas, Dec. 14, 2025. Photo by Daiei Onoguchi, CC-BY-4.0, resized.WhyNBA Interactive
Spurs vs. Thunder, the rematch
In May, San Antonio went into Oklahoma City for Game 7 and took the West from the defending champions. On Tuesday night the schedule sends the Thunder to San Antonio for the last game of opening night. Here is the series that built this rivalry, step by step.
Thunder vs. Heat at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, March 2024. Photo by HutchDoesStuff, CC0, cropped.Chapter 1
The two best teams in the West
Oklahoma City came into last season as the champion and played like it. The Thunder went 64-18, the best record in the league.
San Antonio finished two games behind them at 62-20, the second-best record in the NBA. The Spurs won four of the five regular-season meetings between the two teams.
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Both teams then won their first two playoff rounds. The Thunder swept Phoenix and the Lakers. The Spurs beat Portland in five games and Minnesota in six. That set up the conference finals everyone had circled.
Stephon Castle in the 2026 Western Conference finals. Photo by Petsbikes, CC-BY-SA-4.0, resized.Chapter 2
Seven games in May
Road teams won three of the seven games. The Spurs took Games 1 and 7 in Oklahoma City, and the Thunder took Game 3 in San Antonio. Everything else went to the home team.
- Spurs 122, Thunder 115 in Oklahoma City. Wembanyama has 41 points and 24 rebounds.
- Thunder 122, Spurs 113. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scores 30.
- Thunder 123, Spurs 108 in San Antonio.
- Spurs 103, Thunder 82. The series is tied 2-2.
- Thunder 127, Spurs 114. Oklahoma City leads 3-2.
- Spurs 118, Thunder 91 to force Game 7.
- Spurs 111, Thunder 103 in Oklahoma City.
Winning margin, game by game
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Victor Wembanyama with the Spurs at the 2025 NBA Cup. Photo by Daiei Onoguchi (crop by Wcamp9), CC-BY-4.0, resized.Chapter 3
Wembanyama’s series
Victor Wembanyama was 22 and playing in his first postseason. He scored at least 20 points in all seven games and was the unanimous choice for Western Conference finals MVP.
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03-pointers made, on 40 attempts
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The league said he became the first player with at least 15 made 3-pointers and 15 blocks in a single playoff series. His outside shot mattered most late: he went 4-for-9 from deep in Game 6 and 3-for-5 in Game 7, when he finished with 22 points and seven rebounds.
“They don’t even know how much I love them. We want four more.”— Victor Wembanyama on his teammates after Game 7
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander drives for the Thunder at Washington, January 2022. Photo by All-Pro Reels, CC-BY-SA-2.0, resized.Chapter 4
The champion’s last stand
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had just been named MVP for the second straight season when the series began, after averaging 31.1 points. Against San Antonio he averaged 25.9 points and 8.9 assists and made 61 of his 65 free throws.
He scored 35 in Game 7. Oklahoma City played most of the series without Jalen Williams, who appeared in only three of the seven games.
Top scorers in the series, points per game
San Antonio’s young guards carried a big share. Stephon Castle averaged 18.0 points and 7.6 assists, and Dylan Harper, 19, added 12.0 points, mostly off the bench.
Victor Wembanyama and Josh Hart in Game 3 of the 2026 NBA Finals. White House photo, resized.Chapter 5
June, and the awards
The Spurs’ first Finals trip since 2014 ended against the Knicks in five games. Three of New York’s four wins came by four points or fewer, two of them by a single point.
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His regular season had already been his best: 25.0 points, 11.5 rebounds and a league-leading 3.1 blocks in 64 games. He was the first unanimous Defensive Player of the Year, with all 100 first-place votes, made the All-NBA first team for the first time and finished third in MVP voting behind Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokić.
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The Spurs’ home arena, now Frost Bank Center, during the 2014 playoffs. Photo by Katie Haugland, CC-BY-2.0, cropped and resized.Chapter 6
Tuesday night in San Antonio
The rematch tips off at Frost Bank Center at 9:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday, which is 4:30 a.m. Wednesday in Cairo. It is the last game of the opening-night tripleheader.
Wembanyama kept his preseason light by design: 13.8 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.3 blocks in 19.8 minutes a game.
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“What I love the most is the quality of the opponent. That’s what we strive for.”— Victor Wembanyama on opening against the Thunder
He said he has “plenty” of individual goals for his fourth season but is not sharing them yet. Coach Mitch Johnson said the reigning Defensive Player of the Year still has “a lot of growth” left on that end of the floor.
Last season’s West came down to one game in Oklahoma City, and the margin across seven games was 26 points. The Thunder still have the two-time MVP. The Spurs still have the player who beat him in May.
One regular-season game will not settle anything. It will show where both teams start.
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