Spurs are barreling toward a destiny every NBA fan can get on board with

Oklahoma City has become the NBA community's biggest villain. They already won once. Like Thanos. They can't be allowed to win in the sequel, and the Spurs are everyone's best hope to stop it from happening. Fortunately—and forgive me for counting the chickens before they hatch—they now look to be on a collision course with the defending champs in the Western Conference Finals.

Were they to clash in a seven-game series, San Antonio's fan base would grow exponentially. The Thunder have several things working against them in the court of public opinion. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's playstyle can be an eyesore and often is. Lu Dort is constantly trying to earn the mark of a dragon so he can compete in Mortal Kombat.

The criticisms don't stop there, but if you watch them play, you know that. The last thing NBA fans want to deal with is another year of annoying OKC fans. That puts the onus on San Antonio to stop it from happening, and based on all the data we've gathered thus far, they have a great shot to pull it off.

The Spurs are still doing the things that would give OKC problems

There are only two teams in the Western Conference taking more two-pointers per game than the Spurs. OKC and Minnesota. That's not a surprise. The midrange is SGA's area of expertise, and while the Thunder have a few guys who can knock down shots, not everyone is as potent behind the arc. So, they use Shai's gravity, defense, backcuts, and offensive rebounds to attack the paint.

They're very good at it. However, that doesn't really work against San Antonio. The reason why the Spurs beat the Thunder in three consecutive meetings is the same reason they beat Detroit, and it's the same reason Portland never had a shot to win in the first round. The interior belongs to the extraterrestrial Frenchman, and there's no negotiating terms for a more beneficial arrangement.

The Silver and Black have two handfuls of athletic perimeter defenders who understand the scheme better than ever. They play physically, get into passing lanes, and disrupt the ballhandler as much as possible while funneling him toward the middle so Wembanyama can play volleyball with his shot attempts.

Interestingly enough, OKC has a similar scheme with Chet Holmgren as the anchor, but he's not Wemby. Stephon Castle is not Alex Caruso, and Dylan Harper is not Lu Dort. They'll lose some battles against the 7'0" ex-Gonzaga star, but they'll win more than their fair share. Said plainly, the Thunder can't do to the Spurs what the Spurs can do to the Thunder.

That's not usually the case for that team. They're used to dictating the game, and that changes against San Antonio. The Spurs will make the rules just as they have throughout the majority of the season. It's how they shocked everyone with 62 wins. So, when they knock OKC off in the WCF, the NBA community shouldn't be surprised. They should just say thank you.

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