Spurs vs. Thunder score, live updates, how to watch: NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, DPOY Victor Wembanyama face off in Game 1

With Dylan Harper replacing the injured De’Aaron Fox, the Spurs have the youngest starting lineup in conference finals history tonight. So far, it’s led San Antonio to a 36-29 second-quarter lead.

After digging an 11-2 deficit, OKC went on a 9-0 run and took a 22-19 lead late in the first. And the game will go into the second quarter tied at 27 after an entertaining first.

Alex Caruso and Jalen Williams have 10 points each for OKC. Stephon Castle leads San Antonio with 11, while Wemby has six points and five rebounds.

A hot start to the most anticipated series of the playoffs.

The Thunder are struggling early, but Alex Caruso is singlehandedly keeping them afloat.

He has all seven Thunder points as the Spurs have jumped out to a 12-7 lead. And now he’s guarding Wemby, giving up nearly a foot in height advantage in the process.

No proble for Caruso, who just picked off a pass intended for Wemby for a transition layup on the other end.

The Spurs are off to a 3-of-9 start from the field, but they’re dominating the ball. At the first TV timeout, San Antonio already has a 9-2 rebounding edge and an 11-3 lead.

The Thunder started 0-for-4 from the floor as the Spurs jumped out to a 7-0 lead. And Thunder fans don’t sit down until the first OKC bucket.

Alex Caruso gave them a reprieve with a 3-pointer at the 8:45 mark for the first Thunder points of the game.

So far, so good for the Spurs. Stephon Castle opened the game with a 3. Victor Wembanyama then drew a foul on a jump shot for a pair of free throws and followed that up with a putback layup for a 7-0 San Antonio lead.

A good start for a Spurs team playing without starting point guard De’Aaron Fox.

Conference finals matchups don’t get much bigger than this. We’re moments away from tip of the most anticipated series of the playoffs. Let’s go.

Speaking of MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander … He was just awarded his trophy from commissioner Adam Silver prior to Game 1 introductions. This is officially a habit for the now two-time NBA MVP.

With De’Aaron Fox out, Dylan Harper will start in the San Antonio backcourt for the biggest game yet of his rookie season.

What a spot for the standout guard with MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander staring back at him from the Thunder backcourt and a trip to the NBA Finals at stake.

Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals between the Spurs and Thunder is set to tip off in 15 minutes!

The game will air on NBC and stream on Peacock.

The Thunder were the top team in the NBA this season, finishing the regular season with a 64-18 record.

The Spurs were the second-best team in the league, with a 62-20 regular-season record.

Their matchup in the 2026 Western Conference Finals marks the first time since 1998 that there has been an NBA playoff series between two teams that had at least 62 regular-season wins.

In 1998, the Chicago Bulls met the Utah Jazz in the NBA Finals. Both teams went 62-20 during the regular season that year.

All things considered, however, this is what the basketball world dreamed of when the Spurs announced themselves to the world in Vegas nearly six months ago. The audacity and gall to not only meet the reigning champions at their level but exceed it — even if momentarily — provided a collision course roadmap that leads us to the present day. The Western Conference finals — with Thunder star Jalen Williams seemingly back in the fold — will be a test unlike any other for the Spurs.

That they’ve won four of five meetings this season means everything and nothing. Both sides have made their thoughts and feelings clear about the other; the appreciation for ethical hoops, how award races should be defined and where the true advantages lie. But San Antonio has built a brand on belief, and only four wins separate it from the Finals.

“Of course, we’re confident,” Wembanyama said of another date with basketball’s best. “But we need to keep the right confidence level. Right now, I’m not even thinking about it, I’m just thinking about recovering. We’ll see about it in the next couple of days, but it’s gonna be the same as usual — prepare, take care of your body, scout, watch the film and focus.”

Read more on why the Spurs are looking ready for their showdown with the league’s defending champions.

The Spurs will be without De’Aaron Fox tonight against the Thunder due to his right ankle injury. The hope, though, is that he can return on Wednesday night.

San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama made history last week.

With 12 blocks in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Minnesota Timberwolves, the 22-year-old broke the official NBA record for most blocked shots in a playoff game.

Wemby’s block party came in a losing effort, but the team’s official social media account made sure to shout out the remarkable performance, posting a list of his Game 1 achievements, leading with the big one: “Most blocks ever in an NBA Playoffs game.”

From social media to national TV airwaves, Wembanyama’s historic defensive outing was a major talking point in NBA circles. The 7-foot-4 center had done something no other player had done before.

There’s just one problem.

Credible evidence is mounting that Wilt Chamberlain blocked way more shots in an NBA playoff game. There are documented reports that he bested Wembanyama’s “official record” multiple times.

Read more.

During the regular season, the Spurs were 14th in 3s attempted (37.9) and 15th in conversion rate (35.9%). In the playoffs, their frequency has dipped (32.5), but their efficiency has jumped (38.4%, third-best). This is in part due to Castle’s improvement, as well as the presence of Julian Champagnie.

The Thunder utilize a very compact defensive shell, keeping all five players close to one another to protect the rim, funnel action toward the middle and cause chaos. What that does, because no scheme is foolproof, is leave the corners exposed. Second Spectrum defines “open” shots as ones where the closest defender is four-to-six feet away; Oklahoma City allows the third-most such shots per game, but because opponents are shooting just 35.4% on those, the gamble pays off more times than not. The Spurs, tied with the Knicks, led the league in corner 3s during the regular season and shot nearly 40%, good for eighth among all teams. In the playoffs, however, those numbers have plummeted, taking less corner 3s and converting only 33% of them, which is fourth-worst among playoff teams.

Getting more production out of Devin Vassell is a good start, but the Spurs will need to clean that up or else Oklahoma City will hammer them in the half-court.

READ MORE: Spurs-Thunder preview

The San Antonio Spurs selected Rutgers rookie Dylan Harper with the second overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft … and after a relatively quiet regular season, averaging 11.8 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game, he’s emerged as a key contributor in the postseason.

Through 11 playoff games, Harper is shooting 56.6% from the field, with two games of 24-plus points and two double-doubles. Harper had just two 24-point efforts without a single double-double in the 2025-26 regular season as a rookie.

He’s tied with Timberwolves’ Naz Reid to lead all players with 151 points off the bench this postseason, while having played 46 fewer minutes. 😳 Will he keep it up in Game 1?

NBA fans are all getting the series they were hoping for: A Western Conference finals collision between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the San Antonio Spurs.

These teams make up the NBA’s budding preeminent rivalry and already played five times in the regular season — one extra game because of an NBA Cup semifinal — and are set for at least another four.

Here’s one of my favorite player prop bets for Game 1:

Jalen Williams over 19.5 points + assists

JDub is healthy! Despite getting hurt in Game 2 of the Round 1 series against the Phoenix Suns, Jalen Williams said on his own YouTube channel that he is healthy and ready to play vs. San Antonio. In fact, the prolonged absence could be viewed as precautionary. When Williams got hurt, he kept himself in the game and signaled to the bench he was OK, running up and down the court a few times, before ultimately coming out.

I expect him to start and play a completely normal minutes distribution and rotation. This season he averaged 22.6 points combined with assists and 21.8 in the matchups against San Antonio. With Stephon Castle likely face-guarding Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, I expect Williams to be leaned on as a playmaker for his team.

The Spurs have two players who are listed as questionable for the series opener on Monday night.

Point guard De’Aaron Fox continues to deal with right ankle soreness, while center Luke Kornet has soreness in his left foot.

Neither of the injuries caused the players to miss San Antonio’s Game 6 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Fox played 24 minutes in the win over Minnesota and finished with 21 points, 4 rebounds and 9 assists. He also went 3 of 3 from beyond the arc in the game.

Kornet came off the bench, but still played 14 minutes. He had six points and six rebounds.

The Thunder have a clean bill of health for the game.

The Thunder and the Spurs will begin a seven-game series to determine the Western Conference’s representative in the 2026 NBA Finals on Monday.

The series will start in Oklahoma City for the first two games, and then go to San Antonio for the second two. After that, the series will alternate locations as long as games are needed until a team wins four games.

These teams met five times during the regular season thanks to an extra matchup in the 2026 NBA Cup. The Spurs won four of the five games. The lone game the Thunder won came on January 13, when Oklahoma City beat San Antonio 119-98, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scoring 34 points.