The defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder and the San Antonio Spurs are set to collide in the 2026 Western Conference Finals. This series pits back-to-back NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander against unanimous Defensive Player of the Year Victor Wembanyama. Anticipation is building ahead of the tip-off as both rosters prepare to fight for a spot in the NBA Finals.
The sheer dominance of both teams makes this matchup exceptionally rare. The Thunder finished the regular season at 64-18. The Spurs posted a 62-20 record. This marks the first playoff series this century, and just the seventh in NBA history, between two teams boasting 62 or more regular-season wins, a statistical milestone that pairs alongside San Antonio’s 4-1 regular-season advantage over Oklahoma City.
San Antonio proved they could handle the defending champions early on. The Spurs handed the Thunder an NBA Cup semifinal loss in December that completely derailed Oklahoma City’s historic 24-1 start. Both teams play incredibly young. They are the two youngest teams to win a playoff round this season. The oldest likely starter taking the floor in this series is 28-year-old De’Aaron Fox.
Front-office personnel around the league are already framing this as the beginning of the NBA’s next era. Many executives forecast it as the modern equivalent to the Magic and Bird rivalry. One Eastern Conference executive stated the matchup has a chance to go down as one of the best series of the past decade. The hype matches the expert prediction consensus pointing toward a grueling, legacy-defining battle.
A Western Conference assistant coach bluntly declared, “This is the Finals.” Both teams are finalized for the series and waiting for Game 1 to tip off.