Shai Gilgeous-Alexander gets another primetime push for his MVP campaign, while the Oklahoma City Thunder earn a national audience for their sublime brand of basketball. They’ll be huge favorites on the road against De’Aaron Fox and the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday night.

How to watch Oklahoma City Thunder at San Antonio Spurs

The benchmark for Thunder success has to be the 2011-14 era, in which the nascent franchise made its only Finals appearance to date and fielded three future MVPs. Their best net rating in that stretch was a +9.8. Get this: The current OKC squad is up to +12.7.

Everything about these guys feels special, from their elastic and clever lead playmaker to their unrelenting top-ranked defense. The Thunder hit Friday on pace for a 67-win season, with their top seven in minutes played all 26 or younger. If NBA teams were eligible for Academy Awards this weekend, it would be hard to slight Oklahoma City for Best Picture. Mark Daigneault is basketball’s Alfred Hitchcock.

This Spurs season wouldn’t win any major awards, though their banger of a “City Edition” jersey would deserve Best Costume Design. The Talavera-style patterning and faded denim colorway is one of the best in the game.

It was a merciless month for San Antonio on the floor. Landing the franchise’s long-term initiator at point guard smooths everything over, but Fox’s February splits with the Spurs are a bit undercooked at 43/27/78. Devin Vassell was far worse, below 40 percent from the floor and below 26 behind the arc. The Fox-fronted offense is eighth in pace through its first 10 games (3-7).

Trend watch: The Thunder have a juggernaut’s +15.8 plus/minus since Feb. 1. They have the league’s lowest turnover rate despite running the 10th-fastest pace. SGA was the month’s top scorer, while Aaron Wiggins put up 54/44/91 shooting splits in more than 27 minutes per game.

Recent Thunder defense highlights that inspire a stink face:

🎥 https://t.co/9PevWdetRT pic.twitter.com/BdWGeaYR8g

— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) February 27, 2025

Now this…is a work of art 🤌 pic.twitter.com/yCdoWna6Z5

— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) February 25, 2025

30 seconds of quintessential OKC Thunder basketball 😌 pic.twitter.com/F3SYp2xRaJ

— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) February 24, 2025

Starting five of players to wear both jerseys:

• Chris Paul
• George Hill
• Kevin Martin
• Isaiah Roby
• Nazr Mohammed

It’s a thin team … because that Thunder jersey didn’t exist until 2008-09. If we went by the entire franchise history (Spurs/Chaparrals, Thunder/Supersonics), we could add Dale Ellis, Brent Barry and Avery Johnson.

(Photo of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: Patrick Smith / Getty Images)