The Unstoppable Thunder Meet Their Test
Saturday's NBA Cup semifinal delivers exactly what tournament basketball should: Oklahoma City Thunder versus San Antonio Spurs. The league's hottest team facing a squad that just won without their franchise centerpiece. This isn't just about reaching the final—it's about proving legitimacy under pressure.
The Thunder are 24-1, matching the 2015-2016 Warriors for the best 25-game start in NBA history. They just obliterated Phoenix 138-89 in the worst defeat in Suns franchise history. They're not just winning—they're embarrassing opponents. The Spurs? They beat the Lakers 132-119 without Victor Wembanyama and are riding a hot streak that's pushed them into the Western Conference's top four.
Thunder's Historic Demolition of Phoenix
Let's be honest—that quarterfinal wasn't a basketball game, it was a public execution. The Thunder beat Phoenix by 49 points, the largest margin in Suns history. Phoenix tried to compete, but they were outmatched everywhere. Defensively overwhelmed, offensively outclassed, and thoroughly dominated from opening tip to final buzzer.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander carved up Phoenix for 28 points, 8 assists, and 2 rebounds on 11-of-15 shooting. Efficient, ruthless, surgical. Jalen Williams added 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting with 5 assists, while Chet Holmgren destroyed the interior with 24 points and 8 rebounds on 9-of-13 shooting.
This Thunder team doesn't have weaknesses you can exploit. Their defense suffocates, their offense flows, and their depth means fresh legs punish tired opponents in the fourth quarter. Phoenix learned that lesson the hard way.
Spurs Advance Without Their Franchise Player
Victor Wembanyama made the trip to Los Angeles but didn't suit up for San Antonio's quarterfinal against the Lakers. Didn't matter. The Spurs jumped on LA early, built a 20-point lead, and held off every Lakers comeback attempt to win 132-119.
Keldon Johnson ignited the victory with a first-quarter explosion—13 points in five minutes, including three consecutive buckets that broke the game open. Luka Doncic tried keeping the Lakers competitive with 35 points, 5 rebounds, and 8 assists, but San Antonio's depth overwhelmed LA's stars.
De'Aaron Fox contributed 20 points and 3 assists, LeBron James posted 19 points, 15 rebounds, and 8 assists, but the defining moment came late in the second quarter when Harrison Barnes got completely forgotten by LA's defense for an easy bucket that pushed the lead to double digits heading into halftime.
The Spurs' bench outscored the Lakers' reserves 46-31, with the Dylan Harper-Keldon Johnson-Justin Champagnie trio doing serious damage. Marcus Smart tried rallying LA with 26 points, but the Lakers' defensive breakdowns—constant open threes, repeated foul trouble—made the deficit impossible to overcome. San Antonio shot 36 free throws compared to their season average of 26. That's not luck, that's Los Angeles getting physically beaten.
— NBA (@NBA) December 11, 2025
The Wembanyama Question Changes Everything
Will Victor Wembanyama play Saturday? That's the billion-dollar question hanging over this semifinal. Wemby's missed San Antonio's last twelve games, and while the Spurs proved they can win without him, facing the Thunder is a completely different challenge than handling the Lakers.
If Wembanyama returns, the Spurs suddenly have the one player who might slow down Oklahoma City's offensive avalanche. His defensive length, rim protection, and ability to switch creates problems no other team can replicate. The Thunder are historically good, but they haven't faced a healthy Wembanyama with this much on the line.
If he doesn't play? The Spurs are still dangerous—they're 4-1 in their last five, they've got scoring depth, and their defensive intensity can frustrate teams. But asking them to beat a 24-1 Thunder squad without their best player is asking a lot. A whole lot.
Tactical Battle: Speed vs Size
Assuming Wembanyama plays, this becomes a fascinating tactical chess match. Oklahoma City wants to push tempo, run in transition, and use their athleticism to create mismatches before defenses set. The Spurs need to slow everything down, force halfcourt battles, and make the Thunder execute in the mud.
Gilgeous-Alexander versus whoever guards him is the marquee individual matchup, but the real battle is Oklahoma City's perimeter shooting against San Antonio's interior defense. If the Thunder get hot from three, this game's over by halftime. If Wembanyama controls the paint and forces contested shots, suddenly it's a dogfight.
What's Actually at Stake
The winner advances to the NBA Cup final. That's the surface-level prize. The deeper story is about validation. Can the Thunder prove their historic start isn't smoke and mirrors? Can the Spurs show they're legitimate contenders even without their franchise player at full strength?
This is also potentially the first of three Thunder-Spurs matchups in two weeks. If that happens, Saturday sets the tone for everything that follows. Momentum matters, confidence matters, and proving you can win when it counts matters most.
Oklahoma City is the favorite, and they should be. They're playing the best basketball in the league, they've got elite talent at every position, and they just humiliated a playoff team by 49 points. But the Spurs aren't Phoenix. They've got coaching, they've got depth, and if Wembanyama's healthy, they've got the one player who might actually slow this Thunder machine down.
Saturday night in Las Vegas. Thunder versus Spurs. NBA Cup semifinal. The other semifinal : Magic vs Knicks. This is what tournament basketball is supposed to deliver.