San Antonio Spurs Are Exposing OKC Thunder's Fatal Flaws In 2026 NBA Conference Finals

In the immortal words of Zaza Pachulia, "We going to Game 7, baby! Game 7!"

The San Antonio Spurs sent us there on Thursday, with a 118-91 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder. And Game 6's final score may not be the only problem for OKC.

The further we get into this rivalry (especially when you include the teams' five regular-season matchups), the more it feels like the Spurs may be better equipped than any other team to expose the Thunder's weaknesses.

SGA "Stoppers"

First and foremost (and believe it or not, we're not going to lead off with Victor Wembanyama), San Antonio is loaded with perimeter defenders who can make Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's life far more difficult than it is against other teams.

In the regular season, his true shooting percentage against the Spurs was nearly eight points lower than his overall mark. In the conference finals, SGA is shooting 37.9 percent from the field and 26.1 percent from deep.

Thursday, he was minus-28 for the game, making it the third time he's been a minus-15 or worse in the series.

Throughout the conference finals, SGA has done a solid job of balancing his poor shooting with good playmaking, but San Antonio is even making that harder now.

Early on, the double-teams were almost overly aggressive, and the kickouts from Gilgeous-Alexander were leading to borderline practice shots.

Now, the Spurs are more carefully sending those doubles, feinting them or even trusting the likes of Stephon Castle, Dylan Harper or whoever else might be matched up with SGA to play physical, one-on-one defense and live with the result.

With the length and athleticism of San Antonio's perimeter defenders, and Wemby backing them up, Gilgeous-Alexander's mid-rangers have mostly been contested, and trying to score over Wembanyama inside is almost off the table.

Size and Rebounding

OKC starts games with a double-big lineup, but it's generally gotten rolled in this series. Through five games, the Thunder were minus-36 when both Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein were on the floor. And on Thursday, Hartenstein alone was an almost impossible minus-25 in only 16 minutes.

When those two are in the game, the offense bogs down, and space becomes limited inside the three-point line. With Ajay Mitchell hurt and Jalen Williams limited, having two non-creating bigs puts an untenable offensive burden on SGA's shoulders.

But splitting them up creates another problem. At that point, especially when Wembanyama is playing, the Spurs' size advantage becomes almost insurmountable. They've now won the rebounding battle in all three of their victories, and they're plus-28 in that category for the series.

This isn't just about the frontcourt, though.

Castle, Harper and Vassell all have good size for their positions (and often play bigger than they are!). Harper had 11 rebounds in Game 2. Julian Champagnie has gotten to at least eight boards twice in this series. Even De'Aaron Fox has a double-digit rebounding game against OKC.

Meeting Force with Force

And those players are stacking up good performances in the hustle department by simply matching (and at times, exceeding) OKC's effort and physicality.

For most of the last two seasons (and postseasons), the Thunder have dominated the NBA by grabbing, pushing, shoving, pulling and otherwise roughing up opponents on the defensive end of the floor, while selling on the other to a degree that might make the most seasoned professional wrestler blush.

Most teams are either overwhelmed by the physical defense, rattled by the flopping or both.

The Spurs have certainly had moments when the disparity seemed to get to them. Castle couldn't help but bring it up after one of the losses. But in general, they've simply responded to the Thunder's force with plenty of their own.

OKC is used to setting the tone and then staying in complete control of it for the rest of the game. San Antonio has been happy to counterpunch. And it's helped them force a Game 7.

Injuries

Of course, injuries have been a major problem for the Thunder. As mentioned earlier, Williams and Mitchell are hurt. Not having your second- and third-best creators consistently available could sink any NBA offense.

But the Spurs deserve some credit for navigating their own struggles with attrition. Fox is dealing with an ankle injury. Harper hurt his hamstring earlier in the series.

At this point in an NBA campaign, just about every team has to deal with bumps, bruises and absences. It's fair to add it to the context, but it shouldn't entirely discredit what San Antonio is doing.

Deja Vu

Ultimately, SGA could finally break out in Game 7 and lead his team back to the Finals. Another hot shooting night from the supporting cast would do the same. No one would be shocked by that outcome.

The Thunder were the betting favorite coming into this series, and they still are for this Game 7.

But nearly 20 years ago, another generational prospect blew up the typical trajectory of a young star. LeBron James, in his age-22 season and during his second playoff run, took the Cleveland Cavaliers all the way to the NBA Finals.

LeBron, like Wemby now, was ahead of schedule. And the way the big man is playing in this series almost makes it feel like an early trip to the Finals is in his destiny. After going for 28 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks in Game 6, Wembanyama is now averaging 28.2, 11.5 and 3.0 in his first conference finals.

Even against a team with very few noticeable weaknesses, simply being on the opposite side of Wemby creates some.