The Western Conference Finals begin Monday in Oklahoma City, and the Thunder open Game 1 against the Spurs at 8:30 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock. It is a meeting built for the nba schedule and for the spotlight: the defending champions, an 64-win team, against the group that beat them four times in the regular season.
Oklahoma City reached this point after a 2025-26 regular season in which it lost only 18 games and finished with an NBA-best 64 victories. Four of those losses came against San Antonio, which is why this matchup carries more bite than a typical conference final. The Spurs are trying to dethrone the reigning titleholders, while the Thunder are trying to keep moving toward what looks, at least for now, like the start of something bigger than one season.
The headliners are easy to spot. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who won Kia MVP in 2024-25, is averaging 29.1 points and 7.1 assists in the playoffs. Chet Holmgren, who finished second in Kia Defensive Player of the Year voting this season behind Victor Wembanyama, is putting up 18.6 points and 9.1 rebounds. Ajay Mitchell has added 18.8 points, 4.9 assists and 4.0 rebounds, while Isaiah Hartenstein is at 9.9 points, 8.8 rebounds and a 75.6% shooting mark. Jalen Williams has missed the past six games with a hamstring injury, which means the Thunder have had to lean even harder on a rotation that has been 10-deep, with 10 players logging at least 10 minutes per game in the playoffs.
That depth has been one of Oklahoma City’s defining traits. Nine Thunder players are averaging at least 6.5 points per game in the postseason, and the group has supported a playoff attack in which Gilgeous-Alexander, Holmgren and Mitchell have all carried real scoring loads. Jared McCain and Cason Wallace are shooting better than 46% on 3-pointers, while Ajay Mitchell, Chet Holmgren, Lu Dort, Alex Caruso, Isaiah Joe and Jaylin Williams are all at least 36% from long range. The result has been a balanced, hard-to-plan-for team that has already worn down opponents in earlier rounds against the Suns and Lakers.
The tension in this series is not just about talent. The Thunder’s regular-season success against San Antonio — four wins, all while Oklahoma City piled up a plus-11.3 points per 100 possessions mark, compared with the Spurs’ plus-7.8 — adds a layer of doubt to a matchup that otherwise looks straightforward on paper. Mitch Johnson, a Coach of the Year finalist in 2025-26, has a team with enough proof of concept to believe it can make this harder than the standings suggest, especially with Victor Wembanyama fresh off the league’s Defensive Player of the Year award.
That is what makes Monday matter. The Thunder are no longer just trying to win another round. They are being measured against the idea that a championship team, an MVP and a playoff rotation this deep should keep going. The Spurs arrive with the regular-season answer that says otherwise. Game 1 will start providing the first real one.
