Spurs are pushing the Thunder to the brink of total embarrassment

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, it's time for round four of the matchup of the season: the Spurs and the Thunder are getting ready to face off again. OKC will be bloodthirsty in their pursuit of revenge for how the previous three meetings went. They better be. Because a win here puts them in serious jeopardy of being swept by San Antonio, and that's an outcome they'll desperately want to avoid.

That's neither here nor there for the Silver and Black. This is another opportunity to forge themselves in the fire. OKC may not be on their way to breaking any regular-season win records, but they're still the defending champions, and they have a vast arsenal that can bury opponents if you're not careful. The goal will again be like it is any other night: pay close attention to detail and play with physicality.

That's an oversimplification, of course, but that's what it's going to boil down to, as it did in their first meetings, but this time, neither team will be at full strength. The Spurs won't have Devin Vassell, and OKC will be without Isaiah Hartenstein. Still, the game must go on, and as long as Victor Wembanyama and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander are there, it will be worth the price of admission.

Spurs can assert real dominance over OKC with another win

Perspective is everything in sports, and how you view certain obstacles or events can dictate your ability to move past them. When the Thunder lost three games within two weeks back in December, they could look at that one of two ways.

They could choose to believe the Spurs just had their number, or they could claim SA caught them at the beginning of their slide.

Anything that falls within the timeframe of their inconsistent play could be swept under the guise of "midseason woes" or some nonsense like that. They'll be looking to pounce on the Spurs in the first quarter to prove that's exactly what it was.

They missed open looks from three in those games, and if some of them go down early, it could boost their confidence and open the floodgates.

Championship teams aren't lacking confidence anyway, so you have to strip them of that, and it takes a lot to accomplish. San Antonio needs to beat the smug out of them.

The Silver and Black have been struggling with their offense but averaged 120 points against OKC in the three games they played last month. The Thunder will hope the trend of ineptitude continues, especially as a team that leans on its defense. If the Spurs get back on track against them, that'll hurt.

Winning a fourth straight game and a second on their home floor would make them take a serious step back. At that point, there's real concern in their hearts if these two meet in the postseason. You wouldn't be able to make a rational argument saying otherwise—at least not one that anybody would listen to.