Thunder Beat Spurs to No. 1 Seed in 2025-26 on Defense, Not Offense
OKC finished 64-18 and San Antonio 62-20 with nearly identical scoring, but the Thunder's stingier defense and steals created the separation in the standings.
Published: · Figures as of September 12, 2026
Asked: How did the Thunder and Spurs compare on what they actually did in the 2025-26 regular season?
Oklahoma City edged San Antonio in the standings on the back of defense, not offense
Both clubs put together elite regular seasons in 2025-26 - Oklahoma City finished 64-18 (1st in the league), San Antonio 62-20 (2nd) - but the separation between them was almost entirely on the defensive end, since the two offenses were close to a wash.
Scoring was nearly identical; defense wasn't. San Antonio actually scored slightly more, 119.8 points per game to Oklahoma City's 119.0, but the Thunder allowed 107.9 a night against the Spurs' 111.5 - a 3.6-point gap that is the difference between a +11.1 scoring margin and a +8.3 one.
| Team | Scored (points) | Allowed (points) | Margin (points) |
|---|---|---|---|
| OKC | 119.0 | 107.9 | 11.1 |
| SAS | 119.8 | 111.5 | 8.3 |
Shooting was a coin flip; the shape of the two rosters wasn't.
| Metric | OKC | SAS |
|---|---|---|
| FG% | 48.4% | 48.3% |
| 3P% | 36.5% | 35.9% |
| Rebounds/game | 44.1 | 47.0 |
| Assists/game | 25.8 | 28.1 |
| Turnovers/game | 12.0 | 12.6 |
| Steals/game | 9.7 | 7.5 |
| Blocks/game | 5.5 | 5.5 |
Field-goal shooting was essentially even, and San Antonio actually out-rebounded and out-assisted Oklahoma City by healthy margins (2.9 boards, 2.3 assists a game). Where the Thunder pulled ahead is takeaways: 9.7 steals a game against San Antonio's 7.5, a gap that lines up with the extra turnovers they forced and helps explain the better points-allowed number even though the raw shooting and rebounding numbers favored San Antonio.
Both clubs were led by MVP-caliber seasons that carry the league's own hardware: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander won regular-season MVP averaging 31.1 points a game for Oklahoma City, while Victor Wembanyama won Defensive Player of the Year while also scoring 25.0 points and grabbing 11.5 rebounds a night for San Antonio - a name check that fits the team-level pattern, since Oklahoma City's edge shows up on defense and San Antonio's best player is its defensive anchor.
Confidence: High. Every figure above comes straight off each team's full regular-season totals (82 games apiece), not a projection or a small sample.