Thunder's defense, not offense, separated them from Spurs in 2025-26
OKC finished 64-18 to San Antonio's 62-20 despite scoring less per game than the Spurs — the gap came entirely from a stingier defense, per full-season scoring and shooting splits.
Published: · Figures as of September 25, 2026
Asked: How did the Thunder and Spurs compare on what they actually did in the 2025-26 regular season?
Oklahoma City finished 64-18, two games clear of San Antonio's 62-20, and outscored teams by more per game
Both clubs were among the best in the league in the 2025-26 regular season, but Oklahoma City's league-best 64-18 record came with a wider scoring margin — plus 11.15 points a game against San Antonio's plus 8.30 — built more on stopping teams than blowing past them.
Scoring. San Antonio actually scored slightly more, 119.83 points a game to Oklahoma City's 119.02. The separation was on defense: Oklahoma City allowed 107.88 a game, San Antonio 111.52 — a gap of 3.64 points that accounts for the whole difference in margin.
| Team | Points scored (points per game) | Points allowed (points per game) | Margin (points per game) |
|---|---|---|---|
| OKC | 119.02 | 107.88 | 11.15 |
| SAS | 119.83 | 111.52 | 8.30 |
Shooting and ball control. The two teams shot almost identically from the field and behind the arc:
| Metric | OKC | SAS |
|---|---|---|
| FG% | 48.4% | 48.3% |
| 3P% | 36.5% | 35.9% |
| eFG% | 56.1% | 55.9% |
| Assists | 2,113 | 2,302 |
| Turnovers | 983 | 1,037 |
| Assist/turnover ratio | 2.15 | 2.22 |
| Total rebounds | 3,618 | 3,856 |
| Steals | 796 | 617 |
| Blocks | 449 | 447 |
San Antonio out-rebounded Oklahoma City by 238 boards on the season (driven mostly by offensive rebounding, 935 to 784) and posted a slightly better assist-to-turnover ratio despite committing more turnovers, because it also generated more assists. Oklahoma City's edge was on the defensive end of the ball: 796 steals to San Antonio's 617, a real gap in perimeter disruption that the eye-level shooting numbers don't show.
Individual honors. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander won MVP for Oklahoma City; Victor Wembanyama won Defensive Player of the Year for San Antonio — both are voting records for that season, not a settled ranking of the two players, but they reflect how each roster's best player was regarded league-wide.
What the models add. Oklahoma City's carried-over power rating for the coming season sits at +13.2 points against an average opponent, San Antonio's at +8.5 (both dated September 24, 2026, confidence 0.5 as offseason carryover reads built off last season's rosters at last season's minutes). Both teams' 2025-26 records were rated "in line" with what their scoring margins supported — Oklahoma City's actual win rate within about 1.4 wins of its margin-implied rate, San Antonio's within about 2.1 — so neither record looks inflated or unlucky relative to how they actually outscored people.
Confidence: High. These are full-season, regular-season-only totals for both clubs, and the record, margin and shooting splits all point the same direction — Oklahoma City the deeper, defense-driven team; San Antonio the slightly higher-scoring, better-rebounding one.