Thunder vs. Spurs: 10 stats reasons to get hyped for the Western Conference finals

We are all in for a treat with the Western Conference finals between the Spurs and Thunder, which begins on Monday. Would it surprise anyone if this series is still being talked about decades from now? It’s poised to be the beginning of a rivalry between two franchises with young, championship cores, and could be a pivotal moment for a future dynasty or the birth of a superstar showdown. At the very least, the winner of this series should be favored to win a championship. 

There are many reasons this series carries a lot of weight and should be fascinating to watch for everyone, from the casual viewer to the diehard fan. Here are 10:

1. First series of its kind since the Jordan era

The Spurs (62-20) and Thunder (64-18) had the two best records in the NBA during the regular season. They both racked up a ton of wins, both because they are two fantastic teams and because so many teams were tanking ahead of the 2026 NBA Draft. 

Either way, I was still really surprised to find out this is the first playoff series between 62-win teams in 28 years. The last time it happened was between the Bulls and Jazz in the 1998 NBA Finals when Michael Jordan clinched the series (and his sixth and final ring) with the famous shot of Bryon Russell. 

Overall, it’s the seventh series between 62-win teams in NBA history. The Bulls were part of this each year of their second three-peat (they beat the SuperSonics in 1996 and the Jazz in ’97 and ’98). Then there were the ’85 Finals between the Lakers and Celtics, the 1981 conference finals between the Celtics and 76ers that went seven games, and the 1972 series between the Lakers and Bucks that featured Wilt Chamberlain vs. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

2. Matchup of superstars

It’s a series between the best two teams in the NBA with two of the best players. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander just won his second NBA MVP award, while (future MVP winner?) Victor Wembanyama finished third in the voting behind Nikola Jokic. 

Ideally, this would be the NBA’s next great player rivalry, joining the likes of Wilt Chamberlain vs. Bill Russell, Larry Bird vs. Magic Johnson and LeBron James vs. Kevin Durant. Those pairs combined to meet 15 times in the playoffs, including eight times in the NBA Finals. 

SGA and Wemby don’t play the same position, but they should be meeting at the rim a few times.

3. Victor Wembanyama’s coronation?

This is pretty much the dream scenario for the Spurs, who were bottom feeders three years ago when they won the Wemby sweepstakes. He almost immediately delivered on the hype as one of the best prospects ever by playing MVP-caliber ball while elevating his team to championship contention at the young age of 22.

That puts him on the cusp of doing things nobody has ever done: no one has led an NBA champion in scoring at this age and no one in NBA history has ever reached the NBA Finals while finishing top three in NBA MVP voting at this age. There were some close calls (Kareem won his first MVP and title at age 23 and LeBron was an MVP finalist when he reached his first Finals in ’07 at 22), but Wemby could be the youngest to reach these heights. And I mean that figuratively speaking, but quite literally, he could also be the tallest (7-foot-4) player to ever start in and win an NBA Finals.

4. SGA can join NBA’s Mount Rushmore

On the other hand, Wemby could just be a footstool for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, like he was in this year’s MVP race. Gilgeous-Alexander can be the fourth player in NBA history to win the NBA MVP and a title in back-to-back seasons, along with Bill Russell (three straight from 1961-63), Michael Jordan (1991-92) and LeBron James (2011-12). SGA can join Jordan as the only players to ever average 30+ points per game and win an MVP and title in back-to-back years.

You cannot understate the magnitude of this series for shaping legacies and dynasties.

5. Thunder eyeing a dynasty

Many experts understandably predicted a dynasty for the Thunder after last season, when they became the youngest team to win a championship since the Trail Blazers in 1977. This could be another step toward that for a championship team with a young core and a treasure trove of draft picks.

OKC can become the fourth franchise in NBA history to have the best regular-season record in the NBA and win a title in back-to-back years. The Lakers did it twice (1952-54 and 1986-88), the Celtics did this for seven straight years (1958-65) and the Bulls pulled it off during their second three-peat (1996-97).

Once again, all history points back to things that haven’t happened since the Jordan era. So when you’re watching, remember how monumentally important the series is for OKC as SGA and the Thunder attempt to accomplish something last done by the Bulls and Michael Jordan.

6. Spurs eyeing record turnaround

Anytime a prospect comes into the NBA with Wemby’s hype, you are expecting MVPs and titles, but it’s still pretty incredible they could be happening this soon. The Spurs lost 60 games in Wemby’s rookie year, meaning San Antonio could become the second team in NBA history to win a title within two years of a 60-loss season. The other team to do it was the 1999 Spurs in Tim Duncan’s second season. Man, Spurs fans are spoiled!

Four other teams won a title within two years of a 50-loss season:

• 2022 Warriors, two years after Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson played only five games
• 2008 Celtics in their first season with their “Big 3” (Paul Pierce/Kevin Garnett/Ray Allen)
• 1981 Celtics in Larry Bird’s second season
• 1971 Bucks in Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s second season

The Spurs might not win this year, but they are ahead of schedule. 

7. Beginning of a great rivalry

This has to be the NBA’s next great rivalry, right? You would hope so.  We’ve actually never seen a series this late in a postseason between teams this young. 

They both rank as two of the ten youngest teams to reach the conference finals. Plus, teams with an average roster 26.0 years or younger have never met in the conference finals or later. The Thunder are on this list a lot.

Youngest teams to reach conference finals since 1976-76 NBA-ABA merger

Wemby’s production has been incredible, but the Spurs also wouldn’t be here without the contributions from Stephen Castle (21) and Dylan Harper (20). They are the second age-22 or younger trio to average double-digit scoring in a postseason all-time (minimum 10 games) along with Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden (2011 Thunder). You may have heard of those guys.

The trifecta just combined to average 55 points per game in the conference semifinals and each led the team in scoring twice in the series (Harper in Games 1 and 4, Castle in Games 2 and 6, Wemby in Games 3 and 5). The Spurs became the only team to ever win a playoff series with three different players at age 22 or younger leading the team in scoring at least once during the series.

Castle also just helped close the series by doing something only Magic Johnson had done. 

The Thunder have plenty of young talent outside of SGA, too. Ajay Mitchell has emerged as another go-to option with Jalen Williams hurt (though he’s expected back for this series) and we’ve already seen what Chet Holmgren can do. Mitchell just averaged more than 20 points per game on better than 50% shooting in the series win over the Lakers and the Thunder have a +27.7 net rating with him on the court this postseason (+2.5 with him off).

8. Spurs rolled Thunder during the regular season

The Spurs were the only team to win the season series vs. the Thunder this year (4-1). So while they are underdogs in this series, we at least have some confidence this won’t be a one-sided affair.

9. Wemby is an alien

Wemby gives us more than one reason to watch these games: this series also has the “holy crap, look at how big this human being is and what he can do” appeal.

When I’m watching, I’ll be marveling at human evolution. I want to see dunks, swats and logo shots from a 7-foot-4 human being. He already has the most blocks, dunks and threes made (80 combined) by any player through the first 10 games of a postseason on record, breaking Shaquille O’Neal’s previous mark (76 in 1998). And no, Shaq didn’t shoot threes.

How will the Thunder will score when Wemby is in the paint? And how they will attack him to draw him away from the basket? He has the second-most blocks (41) through 10 career playoff games, behind Dikembe Mutombo (62) and the Spurs are limiting opponents to the lowest field goal percentage in the paint (47%) in a postseason since the 2011 Thunder, who had Serge Ibaka.

Wemby is also the first player to ever average 25+ points and 5+ blocks per 36 minutes in a single postseason (remember, he left a game with a concussion and was ejected from another in this playoff run, bringing his minute total down). In other words, he does not look like a mere mortal.

10. Both teams are coming in hot

Both teams, perhaps miraculously, have healthy squads playing great ball. Jalen Williams (hamstring) will be back for Game 1 and the Thunder are 8-0 this postseason. The Spurs are coming off a series vs. the Timberwolves during which they put up the second-largest average margin of victory (+26.5 per game) in any best-of-7 series win all-time. 

Hopefully that’s enough to get you hyped for this series. If not, you might want to check your pulse!