Spurs host Thunder on NBA opening night in West finals rematch
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The gist
The San Antonio Spurs host the Oklahoma City Thunder at 8:30 p.m. CT on NBA opening night.
It's a rematch of last season's Western Conference finals, which the Spurs won.
Background
The Spurs are San Antonio's NBA team, and the Thunder play in Oklahoma City. The two met in last season's Western Conference finals, which San Antonio won in seven games, and the Spurs also took the regular-season series 4-1, including a win in the NBA Cup semifinals. San Antonio then reached the NBA Finals but lost to the New York Knicks in five games, and returns most of its roster looking to become the first Finals runner-up to reach the Finals in consecutive seasons since Cleveland in 2018. The matchup opens the new NBA season.
How it unfolded
- May 30, 2026The Spurs beat the Thunder in Game 7 of the Western Conference finals in Oklahoma City, winning the series 4-3.
- Jul 2026The reigning Defensive Player of the Year, a unanimous selection, signed a 5-year max extension worth up to $252 million instead of a supermax worth up to $303 million.
- Oct 19, 2026BetMGM odds listed the Spurs as 2.5-point favorites, with an over/under of 231.5 and moneyline OKC +110 / San Antonio -135.
- Oct 20, 2026The Spurs host the Thunder at Frost Bank Center at 8:30 p.m. CT (9:30 p.m. ET) on NBC and Peacock. Oklahoma City is without Otega Oweh, Thomas Sorber and Nikola Topić; San Antonio is without Tobias Harris and Jayden Quaintance.
Who’s saying what
- Analysts
- The Oklahoman reporter Justin Martinez predicted OKC 114, San Antonio 110, saying OKC has all the motivation against the team that eliminated it last year and enough elite defenders to keep the rest of the Spurs in check.
- Support
- Spurs community site Pounding The Rock framed the game as whether the Thunder's chip from the conference-finals loss outweighs the Spurs' chip from the Finals loss, calling it "Redemption 2.0".