What to Watch for in OKC Thunder vs. San Antonio Spurs

For the fifth time during the 2025-26 season, the Oklahoma City Thunder will meet the San Antonio Spurs, this time south of the Red River. So far this season, the Spurs have had the Thunder's number winning the first three contests of their regular season meetings before Oklahoma City got the better of San Antonio in the most recent matchup.

The Oklahoma City Thunder will be coming off the second night of a back-to-back having just beat down the Orlando Magic, 128-92, on Tuesday inside the Paycom Center. In that game, the Thunder were as healthy as they have been in a long time, seeing Alex Caruso return to the fold alongside Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren, Jaylin Williams and Isaiah Hartenstein all being elevated from their questionable designations just before tip-off.

Though Oklahoma City was down its top two secondary creators in All-NBA swingman Jalen Williams and sixth man Ajay Mitchell. The nature of this back to back will not see the Thunder submit an injury report for this contest until Wednesday afternoon, but it certainly is something to monitor with the injury issues Oklahoma City has faced throughout the season.

While the Thunder are riding a two game winning streak, the Spurs come in with the same record over the last ten games as Oklahoma City, 6-4. This is a battle of the Western Conference's No. 1 and No. 2 seeds as was the case for the Bricktown Ballers on Sunday in Denver.

San Antonio has made headlines with their injury report for this game as well, rising star guard Stephon Castle appears on the report as questionable for tonight's game with adductor tightness. The Spurs will be without Lindy Waters III, Jeremy Sochan and David Jones Garcia in this tilt.

San Antonio Spurs, OKC Thunder, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander — Jan 13, 2026; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) drives down the court past San Antonio Spurs forward/guard Keldon Johnson (3) during the second half at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images | Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

What to Watch for in Oklahoma City Thunder vs. San Antonio Spurs

The Oklahoma City Thunder are going to need a great 3 point shooting game to be able to pull off this road win. The San Antonio Spurs have proven to be effective at shutting down the painted area, slowing down superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander enough and living with the results from beyond the arc. The open looks from distance will arrive in this one and it will be up to the Thunder to capitalize on them. The encouraging news for the Bricktown Ballers is the amount of triples they have hit in their last two nights, each lopsided victories. They should enter this game confident from distance.

How the OKC Thunder defend Victor Wembanyama will always be a storyline, but especially without Jalen Williams, who draws an interesting assignment of playing underneath Wembanyama and attempting to push him out of the paint and keep him relegated to being a playmaker and jump shooter. That task can go to Alex Caruso if the veteran is available on the second night of this back-to-back set but there will be minutes where Oklahoma City will have to adjust.

Gilgeous-Alexander was able to keep his 20 point streak alive on Tuesday through a threatrics filled third quarter, which each passing day the chase for history becomes pressure mounting. How he is able to get to his spots tonight, especially with a team that can load up at the point of attack and in the paint, will be interesting to monitor as the reigning MVP chases Wilt.

Another storyline to watch for is Oklahoma City's point of attack defense, which has only been sharp in one of the previous four meetings. Far too often in this matchup, De'Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper have gotten whatever they want on the court. That should not be the case against this vaunted Thunder defense but OKC has to go out and prove that tonight.

Game Information

Date: Feb. 4
Matchup: OKC Thunder (40-11) vs. San Antonio Spurs (33-16)
Time: 08:30 PM CT
Location: Frost Bank Center –– San Antonio, TX
TV: ESPN
Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal (98.1 FM)

This is the fifth and final meeting between these two sides during this regular season, a clash that has caused a ton of conversations around the NBA. The Spurs rattled off three straight wins against Oklahoma City before the Thunder struck back in the most recent tilt. Seeing how Oklahoma City can get up for this game amid a back-to-back on the road will be interesting against a rested and healthy Spurs squad.

The Oklahoma City Thunder will enjoy two days off on Thursday and Friday before taking on the Houston Rockets on Saturday in another clash between two Western Conference contenders on National TV, with that being an afternoon tip-off on ABC.

Stay tuned to Thunder on SI for complete coverage of this game, the fallout from this week's NBA Trade Deadline, and the entire Oklahoma City Thunder season.