THUNDER WIRE - Not even a second after Lu Dort swished in a much-needed outside bucket, the agonizing sound of a whistle was heard. The bucket was overturned to an offensive foul as he kicked his leg out on Harrison Barnes’ contest. In turn, Victor Wembanyama made an outside bucket. That two-play sequence about summed it up.

The Oklahoma City Thunder had their worst showing of the season in a 130-110 loss to the San Antonio Spurs. For the first time in forever, it felt like they were outdone in their brand of basketball with a suffocating defense and clean ball security.

“Credit them, they played great on both ends of the floor from an energy standpoint, execution standpoint. They deserve to win the game. Obviously, that was a statement with the way they played,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said. “They were the better team tonight. We can learn from it from obviously the two days. We have some lessons from the game we can carry over. We need to be a better team on Christmas if we want to beat them.”

Considering most of their roster sat out the first night of their back-to-back, the Thunder had this one circled on their calendar. It makes sense, after all. The Spurs embarrassed them on a national stage just a couple of weeks ago. But they weren’t going to go to their gym and destroy them, either. That was obvious from the jump.

The Thunder were in a 31-29 deficit after the first quarter. Through that opening frame, the paint defense was a bit worrying. I know the Spurs have the ‘Slash Brothers’ moniker, but things were too easy for them when driving to the rim. Chet Holmgren had several San Antonio role players go at him and finish for layups.

That continued the rest of the way. The Thunder scored 31 points in the second frame. They had a 60-58 lead at halftime over the Spurs. Gilgeous-Alexander had 16 points, but San Antonio’s supporting cast outplayed Holmgren and Jalen Williams. That turned into a theme in this lopsided contest.

Out of the break, the Thunder offense went into the mud. It’s a bad habit that has plagued them with this iteration. They won an NBA championship despite that flaw, but it’s why they lose most of their regular- season matchups. They only scored 22 points in the third frame. They were in an 87-82 hole afterward.

Needing a run to stay within it, the opposite happened. The Spurs only needed three minutes before they opened up a double-digit lead. Stephon Castle sliced through OKC’s defense. Barnes once again came up huge as a shot-maker. And don’t even get me started with Keldon Johnson’s unreal shot-making from the outside that energized the San Antonio crowd.

The Thunder were on the wrong side of a 20-8 run in the fourth quarter. That put this one away quickly, as NBA fans were robbed of a clutch-time showdown. Gilgeous-Alexander tried his best to keep it interesting, but nobody else from OKC’s side joined in on the fun.

Eventually, Johnson hit another outside jumper to put this one away. He yelled at the San Antonio crowd in celebration. As they should. In the first year in forever as a legit contender, they delivered a knockout blow to the reigning NBA champion that previously looked unbeatable.

Afterward, the Thunder waved the white flag. They were outscored 43-28 in the fourth quarter as the Spurs eventually led by as many as 21 points. The final margin might be a bit deceptive, but no doubt about it, San Antonio was the better team once again.

The Thunder shot 54% from the field and went 12-of-30 (40%) from 3. They shot 6-of-7 on free throws. They had 23 assists on 46 baskets. Four Thunder players scored double-digit points.

Gilgeous-Alexander led the way with 33 points and eight assists. Williams finished with 17 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Dort scored 15 points. Kenrich Williams had 10 points.

Meanwhile, the Spurs shot 57% from the field and went 16-of-36 (44.4%) from 3. They shot 18-of-24 on free throws. They had 34 assists on 48 baskets. Five Spurs players scored double-digit points. Wembanyama had 12 points and five rebounds off the bench. Johnson exploded for 25 points and five outside makes off the bench. Castle had an efficient 24 points. Barnes delivered with 20 points. Devin Vassell had 17 points and five rebounds.

Looks like we learned that our first challenger could stop the Thunder from going back-to-back. Most didn’t expect the Spurs to be this good, this quickly. But that’s how the NBA works sometimes. Let’s see how the rest of the season plays out. It’s still only December. But San Antonio has played its way into the contender conversation.

For the Thunder, this will be the first time the entire NBA world has questioned their dominance. At least with this matchup. Two losses to the Spurs have shown that they can be beaten in their own style. As a Christmas rematch looms, the stakes have been heightened a bit more than your usual holiday game because of the recent history between these two teams.

“I thought they brought the aggression to the game more so than we did for much of the game,” Daigneault said. “I thought the first half was pretty good, but obviously the second half got away from us.”

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