Tim MacMahonJan 14, 2026, 01:49 AM ETCloseJoined ESPNDallas. com in September 2009Covers the Dallas Cowboys and Dallas MavericksAppears regularly on ESPN Dallas 103.3 FMFollow on XEmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsOKLAHOMA CITY -- On Christmas Day, after losing to the same foe three times in a span of 12 days, reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander flatly stated that the San Antonio Spurs had proved to be better than the Oklahoma City Thunder. The defending champions responded with a 119-98 home win Tuesday night in the latest rematch between the top two teams in the Western Conference standings. That rout prompted Gilgeous-Alexander, who scored a game-high 34 points, to reach another simple conclusion."Tonight's result tells us that when we play a certain way, with a certain sense of urgency, with a certain sense of force, aggressiveness, and attention to detail, it doesn't matter who is on the other side," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "Nothing that I didn't expect. I knew that if we played a certain way, we'd be able to beat anybody in the world."The Thunder acknowledged that the atmosphere at Paycom Center had a heightened sense of intensity because of the upstart Spurs' success against them this season. San Antonio snapped Oklahoma City's 16-game winning streak with a 111-109 win in the NBA Cup semifinal on Dec.
