Spurs overwhelm OKC again, set stage for budding rivalry - ESPN

SAN ANTONIO — The Spurs flipped the script on Oklahoma City again Tuesday night, employing crushing physicality on defense to best the visiting Thunder 130-110 at Frost Bank Center.

It was San Antonio's second win in 10 days over the defending NBA champions and sets the stage for a Christmas Day clash Thursday at Paycom Center between the budding rivals.

«It feels like saying it's a rivalry would be a weird thing because it's something that builds naturally,» center Victor Wembanyama said. «I didn't say that it's impossible that it can be [a rivalry] in the future. I hope it will be soon. But we're definitely getting closer. They're going to be locked in [on Christmas] more than anytime before, probably. It's a resourceful team, but we're going to be there too.»

San Antonio made its presence known in the second battle between the teams this season by imposing a suffocating defense that scored 20 points off 15 Oklahoma City turnovers, while the supporting cast of Keldon Johnson, Stephon Castle and Harrison Barnes blistered the Thunder by racking up 25, 24, and 20 points, respectively.

Franchise superstar Wembanyama (12 points), meanwhile, came off the bench for the fifth-consecutive game. He saw his streak of 101 straight games with at least one block snapped.

It was also a night of firsts for the West-leading Thunder. The loss at San Antonio marked the first time all season that Oklahoma City trailed by 20-plus points, according to ESPN Research, as Kelly Olynyk nailed the first of two free throws with 1:23 left to play to give the Spurs a 126-105 lead.

«We had games this year where we had big leads and we let them slip and we ended up in dogfights,» Johnson said. «To see that little step tonight it huge for us. When we