{"id":155029,"date":"2025-08-16T07:00:28","date_gmt":"2025-08-16T11:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=155029"},"modified":"2025-08-16T02:37:26","modified_gmt":"2025-08-16T06:37:26","slug":"thunder-spurs-rivalry-christmas-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/08\/16\/thunder-spurs-rivalry-christmas-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Thunder-Spurs Rivalry: Why a Christmas Showdown is Perfect"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>As the NBA is laying out the season schedule, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/08\/09\/thunder-vs-rockets-season-opener-2025\/\" target=\"_self\">most of the hype is on opening night<\/a>. However, we are forgetting that <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/08\/15\/thunder-2025-26-schedule-five-key-matchups\/\" target=\"_self\">there are many other games to expect as well<\/a>. The Thunder-Spurs rivalry is taking it up a notch this season as they are gearing up for a massive showdown on Christmas Day.<\/p>\n<p>Let&#8217;s face it, Oklahoma City returning to the Christmas Day slate is a huge win for a small-market team. Now more than ever, it seems that we&#8217;re going to find the spectacle take up a different level. After all, who would not want to see the two young teams with talented players battle it out on the center stage?\u00a0 This is a showdown that will set the bar for young teams, and OKC is at the helm.<\/p>\n<h2>Thunder-Spurs Rivalry: Why a Christmas Showdown is Perfect<\/h2>\n<p>With the Thunder and Spurs setting up a date on Christmas, it&#8217;s a chance to see what both teams are made of. After all, we have seen how fun these games have been as of late. With both <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/holmgch01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Chet Holmgren<\/a> and <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/wembavi01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Victor Wembanyama<\/a>\u00a0fully healthy, the spectacle is becoming even better.<\/p>\n<h3>So What&#8217;s at Stake for the Thunder-Spurs Rivalry?<\/h3>\n<p>The rivalry between these two stretches to the <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/duranke01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kevin Durant<\/a>-era of Oklahoma City. On the other side, it was in the twilight years of <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/duncati01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tim Duncan<\/a>&#8216;s career. We all know how that turned out: two WCF showdowns since 2010, and a memorable 2016 semis clash. When both teams ran out of gas and started rebuilds, the hopes of igniting the rivalry were far from reality.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"nl\" dir=\"ltr\">CHET vs WEMBY<\/p>\n<p>THUNDER vs SPURS<\/p>\n<p>Christmas 2025 <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/7Zh7VJv5PM\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/7Zh7VJv5PM<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; TF (@ThunderFocus) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ThunderFocus\/status\/1953932014329135223?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">August 8, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>That was until Oklahoma City ended up drafting Chet Holmgren in 2022. The Spurs later brought in Victor Wembanyama in 2023, kicking off the rivalry to bigger heights. Since then, every OKC-San Antonio showdown <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/07\/26\/chet-vs-wemby-2025\/\" target=\"_self\">featuring the two big men has been fun to watch<\/a>. Sure, the Spurs are yet to catch up to the Thunder&#8217;s competitive level, but this season may have the makings of it.<\/p>\n<h3>The Chet vs. Wemby Saga Continues<\/h3>\n<p>Let&#8217;s be honest, these two big men are the face of this rivalry. Sure, there&#8217;s <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/gilgesh01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Shai Gilgeous-Alexander<\/a>, <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/willija06.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jalen Williams<\/a>, and <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/f\/foxde01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">De&#8217;Aaron Fox<\/a>, but Chet and Wemby take center stage for this one. We all know how their careers will be intertwined forever and will always be compared after every season. Now more than ever, there are high expectations with the two centers in action this year.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Chet Holmgren vs. Victor Wembanyama tonight:<\/p>\n<p>Chet<br \/>19 PTS &#8211; 5 REB &#8211; 2 BLK &#8211; 70% FG<\/p>\n<p>Wemby<br \/>6 PTS &#8211; 8 REB &#8211; 3 BLK &#8211; 20% FG <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/XnUqrkJo4U\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/XnUqrkJo4U<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TheHoopCentral\/status\/1851831583789011411?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">October 31, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Both big men ended up missing huge chunks of the previous season. Holmgren logged 32 games in the regular season, while Wembanyama finished with 46. The <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/07\/09\/the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly-of-chet-holmgrens-extension\/\" target=\"_self\">Thunder center later played all games in the 2025 NBA Playoffs<\/a> en route to a title, while the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/02\/21\/victor-wembanyamas-absence-affects-lebron-lottery-dpoy-all-nba-more\/\" target=\"_self\">Spurs big man became a first-time All-Star<\/a>. Both had spectacular seasons of their own, but they&#8217;ve only had one big year of facing each other at full health.<\/p>\n<p>Provided that they are healthy by the time this game comes, the hopes of seeing Chet vs Wemby on Christmas Day is a treat for basketball fans. The debates still continue online, and you can see that there&#8217;s still a stalemate in discussions at this point. This showdown on December 25th will be a hard game to miss.<\/p>\n<h3>Young Roster vs. Young Roster<\/h3>\n<p>Now it&#8217;s no secret that experience is a factor in winning championships. OKC, having limited numbers in that regard, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/06\/23\/okc-2025-champions-takeaways-nba-finals-game-7\/\" target=\"_self\">went on to cement their place in NBA history<\/a>. Still, the Spurs are one of the teams that also has a young core&#8212;and a potential of building a talented squad overall. With Wemby as the focal point, we can expect them to contend in the West for years to come and be a problem for Oklahoma City.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">San Antonio Spurs:<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Dylan Harper <br \/>\u2014 Victor Wembanyama<br \/>\u2014 Stephon Castle<br \/>\u2014 De&#39;Aaron Fox<br \/>\u2014 Keldon Johnson<br \/>\u2014 Jeremy Sochan<br \/>\u2014 Julian Champagnie<br \/>\u2014 Devin Vassell<br \/>\u2014 Harrison Barnes<\/p>\n<p>Tons of young talent. <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/moRdrciSXM\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/moRdrciSXM<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; StatMuse (@statmuse) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/statmuse\/status\/1938029087576007135?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">June 26, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The thing is, both the Thunder and Spurs are structured well with dynamic players. San Antonio is <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/08\/07\/spurs-looking-final-touches-first-roster-new-era\/\" target=\"_self\">lagging behind by a few notches<\/a>, but they are close, so this showdown would highlight the potential of both teams. Oklahoma City is daring history, while San Antonio seeks to revive its old glory days.<\/p>\n<h3>The Perfect Christmas Showdown?<\/h3>\n<p>There are a lot of games on the Christmas slate for this year, but perhaps the revival of the Thunder-Spurs rivalry takes center stage. It&#8217;s a long road for the Chet vs Wemby talks to hype down, and it is expected that it will take another level with this game in the midst.<\/p>\n<p>Now more than ever, the Christmas games for Oklahoma City have become an even better thing to watch. Thanks to the bigger stakes at hand, it has the makings of the perfect gift for NBA fans. This is a treat for all, and no one should miss out on it.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a9 Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As the NBA is laying out the season schedule, most of the hype is on opening night. However, we are forgetting that there are many other games to expect as well. The Thunder-Spurs rivalry is taking it up a notch this season as they are gearing up for a massive showdown on Christmas Day. Let&#8217;s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5536,"featured_media":155040,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,62,22,34],"tags":[4292,664,4609,1489,4669],"class_list":["post-155029","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-nba","category-thunder","category-spurs","tag-chet-holmgren","tag-deaaron-fox","tag-jalen-williams","tag-shai-gilgeous-alexander","tag-victor-wembanyama"],"modified_by":"Jordan Pagkalinawan","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155029","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5536"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=155029"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155029\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":155041,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155029\/revisions\/155041"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/155040"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=155029"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=155029"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=155029"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}