It’s finally here! After a shorter-than-we’ve-gotten-used-to offseason thanks to the Spurs making it to the NBA Finals last season, they are back in action and ready for a re-match of the Western Conference Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Last season’s match-up represented a rivalry reborn from 10 years prior, and what a rivalry it is becoming. The two teams now stand a clear tier above the rest of West — which, while still deep, may be falling behind the East in terms of sheer number of contenders
— with both teams knowing that anything less than another Conference Finals appearance will be disappointing.
The question now is, will the chip the Thunder are carrying on their shoulders from the loss to the Spurs in the WCF outweigh the chip the Spurs are carrying from their loss to the Knicks in the Finals, or will their quest for Redemption 2.0 reign supreme? We’ll find out starting tonight!
San Antonio Spurs (0-0) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (0-0)
October 20, 2026 | 8:30 PM CT
Watch: NBC/Peacock | Listen: WOAI (1200 AM)
Spurs Injuries: Tobias Harris — out (calf); Jayden Quaintance — out (knee)
Thunder Injuries: Thomas Sorber — out (knee); Nikola Topic — out (back); Otega Oweh — out (Achilles)
What to watch for
Dynamic Guard Trio
Spurs Coach Mitch Johnson said at media day that they would play the guard trio of De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper more, although couldn’t say how much. Well, he’s throwing them right into the fire as part of the starting line-up on opening night, with Tobias Harris’ calf injury offering the opportunity to experiment a bit. What makes this approach even more interesting is despite losing some size with three guards, Johnson is sticking with Devin Vassell as the fourth starter instead of going back to last year’s starting PF, Julian Champagnie.
Of course, this is in line with their preseason approach after Harris was ruled out, and in the final two games when all guards were available, they faired well, albeit against a Suns team sitting all their starters and a completely inept Kings team. This will be their first real test, and it will be interesting to see how what is a essentially a four-guard lineup does against a much taller Thunder squad, with the 6’5” Vassell matching up against 7’1” Chet Holmgren. Speaking of which…
Chet vs. Wemby round bajillion, or is it Mara time?
The Thunder will be entering this season with a purpose after the Spurs embarrassed them in the regular season last year, then rallied from a 3-2 deficit to win the Western Conference Finals. Wemby certainly got his revenge on Holmgren for many defeats dating back to childhood, and Chet didn’t seem to want any part of that match-up, as Isaiah Hartenstein mostly covered Wemby unless he and Holgren got switched onto each other. Now, with Vassell at the four, Holgren may find more ways to attach on offense.
That being said, OKC is probably hoping it drafted a new Wemby stopper Aday Mara: a 7’3”, 255 lb Spanish big man with a 7-6” wing span and reigning NCAA champion and Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. Of course that is nothing like the Alien’s 8-foot reach, but if Holmgren isn’t up for the challenge, Mara may get thrown into the fire early to see how he matches up. It wouldn’t be fair to expect him to be a Wemby stopper in the first NBA game of his career, and he is expected to be a work-in-progress, but it wouldn’t be surprising if Mark Daigneault wants to see what he was right away. Afterall, similar to the Spurs, the Thunder may eventually have to start considering if they can handle three players on max contracts, and there will be a very heavy burden on Holmgren to prove himself against Wemby this season.
