Inside The Thunder

National Media Member Still Picking Thunder in 7-Game Series Against Spurs

Kenny Beecham recently said that he still believes Oklahoma City would take down San Antonio in a seven-game series despite OKC's recent losses.
Randall Sweet|
Dec 25, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; San Antonio Spurs forward Harrison Barnes (40) drives across the court as Oklahoma City Thunder guard Jalen Williams (8) defends during the second half at Paycom Center.
Dec 25, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; San Antonio Spurs forward Harrison Barnes (40) drives across the court as Oklahoma City Thunder guard Jalen Williams (8) defends during the second half at Paycom Center. | Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

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Oklahoma City Thunder

The Oklahoma City had one of the best starts in NBA history this season, going 24-1 to open the 2025-26 campaign.

Since then, though, the Thunder have gone 3-4, with three of the team's losses coming at the hands of San Antonio. Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs' defense has been a big catalyst for the team's success, but the former No. 1 overall pick isn't the only reason San Antonio has five OKC trouble.

Even aside from the aforementioned players, San Antonio's roster as a whole has performed well against the Thunder, leading to three consecutive wins against the reinging NBA champions.

While the first matchup between the two was a narrow victory for Mitch Johnson's team, the Spurs handled OKC by 20 points on Dec. 23, and 15 points on Christmas Day. Despite these recent defeats, though, Kenny Beecham still believes Oklahoma City would be able to defeat San Antonio in a seven-game playoff series.

"If they play a true seven-game series," Beecham said. "I'm still taking OKC."

Beecham, who has amassed more than 572,000 followers on X and 1.46 million followers on his "KOT4Q" YouTube channel, made the claim on a recent episode of the Numbers on the Board podcast.

While many observers may not share Beecham's sentiment, it seems well-placed after the Thunder's successful 2024-25 campaign that saw Oklahoma City win 68 games and an NBA title.

After a few rough performances against San Antonio, OKC has likely gathered significant data on how to attack the Spurs going forward. Of course, a gameplan won't help the Thunder, though, if they play similar to the last two matchups between both squads.

In each of those contests, Oklahoma City was without Ajay Mitchell, who plays a significant role off the bench for Mark Daigneault's squad. This season, Mitchell has been a key scorer and strong defender amongst OKC's reserve unit, averaging 14.1 points, 3.6 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game while shooting 47.4% from the field and 35.1% from beyond the arc.

While Mitchell alone likely won't be the difference between the Thunder taking down the Spurs in a seven-game series, he would certainly be a helpful addition to the lineup against a San Antonio squad that is stout defensively.

Additionally, after falling to the Spurs three times, OKC should take the floor with more intensity and purpose next time around. To beat San Antonio, Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams will also have to perform better against the Spurs.

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Randall Sweet
RANDALL SWEET

Randall Sweet is a 2022 Oklahoma University graduate who has formerly written for the Norman Transcript and OU Daily. Randall also serves as the Communications Coordinator at Visit OKC.

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