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I’ve gathered the necessary data: Hand over the Spurs the keys to Santa Claus’ elf headquarters. Assign Castle in command of toy assembly. Allow Fox launch gifts into rooftops, from any range he’d like. Devin Vassell can design the festive biscuits. Barnes has the troop of assistants covered. And, of course, the sleigh's vehicle must without delay be resized for a more statuesque, thinner pilot so that the looming Victor Wembanyama can navigate it without issue.

The electrifying San Antonio squad have defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder on three occasions in a fortnight, and in the process have reinvigorated this league schedule. I now have more faith in the Spurs’ ability to deliver thrills to the masses than any Christmas stories of old.

A Grim Beginning

It was concerning for a time. The Oklahoma City might have won the NBA championship in June, but started this season in even more foreboding form. They secured 24 victories in their initial 25 contests (the lone loss was a fluky 20-point rally). In most of them of those games, Williams, their second-best player, was on the bench recovering from wrist surgery. Gilgeous-Alexander, their best player, hardly ever had to play in crunch time. The Thunder routed the Sacramento Kings by 31. The Lakers, who some predicted to be a plausible rival, fell by 29; their offensive genius Doncic looked like he was competing with ten men. The Suns' valiant first earned them a narrow defeat, by just four points. When they played a rematch 12 days later, the Thunder won by 49. This game was a decisive statement and ushered in the cold season 10 days ahead of schedule. Oklahoma City seemed poised to dominating every team in its path, even the Warriors' legendary regular season record of 73-9.

The Nature of Their Game

The Thunder are not known for a especially pleasing brand of basketball. They adeptly exploit the referees’ dilemma over which infractions to call (a steady whistle disrupts the rhythm of the game, an absent one lets players get away with blatant violations), often resulting in SGA taking free throws after whistles that would be better swallowed, while embodied mosquito swarm Caruso seems to have free rein to do whatever he likes on the defensive end. Some say they appreciate, Gilgeous-Alexander contorting his body to draw slight touches from defenders; I can only presume those same people also like being struck hard between the legs. That’s not to mention imposing figure Luguentz Dort launching off his feet and into opponents after plenty of questionably light touches. This tactics lets haters to entertain the fantasy that in a world with perfect officiating, the Thunder would be a mediocre team. Real basketball heads know it’s far more exasperating than fundamental to the Thunder’s success, but the general annoyance is sufficient to nudge some fans who might otherwise be uncommitted into cheering for Oklahoma City’s defeat.

Dominance can be impressively clinical to watch, but a record-setting performance tends to evoke less awe the more times it repeats. How many times does anyone really want to watch one team beat another by 35? Eventually you remember that the drama is the point. The Thunder were sucking the season of intrigue, running up leads on other teams in the standings as well as on the floor.

Enter the Spurs

Through the first half of the first quarter of the first San Antonio vs. OKC game this season, San Antonio trailed by 16 and looked likely to go the same way as every other team. Instead, they have wrought hell upon the Thunder ever since.

Against the Spurs, the Thunder look beatable. Each member of their key players deserves considerable credit for that, but this is Victor Wembanyama’s team, and the Thunder know it. “There’s this guy on their team that’s seven-foot-five and takes up a lot of space on the court,” Jalen Williams remarked, with some exasperation, when asked what made the Spurs such a difficult opponent. The Thunder’s lanky center, 7'1" Chet Holmgren, is the tallest player on the floor in most games, able to grab rebounds and swat down opposing shots. Next to Wemby, he’s short, crude, and even hesitant. Victor's contempt for Holmgren is apparent in how he reacts each time Chet misses a free throw, as though he’s hit the jackpot; the way he commits a foul on him with a bit of added intensity; the way he told reporters he does not view Holmgren a peer. (There is indeed no debate over which player is better.) At this rate Holmgren must expect Wemby to burst out of the pantry, taunting, when he stretches for a bite to eat.

A Festive Declaration

Wembanyama and the Spurs made their most authoritative statement yet on Christmas, defeating the Thunder by 15 on their home court. San Antonio took the customary early surge well yet again, recovering to score 41 points on the league’s best defense in the first quarter. De'Aaron Fox easily found the small holes in that defense to the total of 29 points. The Spurs even held Gilgeous-Alexander to a career-low 22. He attempted to offset it by zipping passes to wide-open teammates behind the arc, but they let him down by missing almost every single attempt.

A Thunder believer would say that a sufficient number of those three-pointers will go in in the future to produce a victory or a closer loss, but I found the misses revealing of a flaw. Off the strength of his silky-smooth stepback jumper, Gilgeous-Alexander is the steadiest scoring force in the league. He is tough to guard and nearly unguardable to stop. But even he can’t carry an offense entirely on his own. The Spurs put him under enough pressure that he had to delegate more than usual, and his teammates faltered under the increased burden. Dort and Caruso are good for the sporadic three-pointer, but relying on them to make the three-ball is the least desirable situation the Thunder want to be.

The New Landscape

The Spurs’ rise couldn’t have come at a more opportune time. Not only have they emphatically cemented themselves as championship threats – but they’ve let fans to see the Thunder in {higher definition|sharper focus|