Harrison Barnes hits Thunder with ‘collision course’ warning

ByNBAUSA



San Antonio Spurs a veteran Harrison Barnes he doesn’t shy away from admitting what the rest of the NBA sees. The Oklahoma City ThunderA fantastic start to their NBA championship puts them in a league of their own. For now. The the reality is that ‘now’ could change soon.

“We’re on a collision course with this team,” Barnes said straight up front the second meeting between the two teams.

“Honestly, it’s a big opportunity for us,” the 14-year veteran continued. “Obviously, OKC is a good team. They’ve had an amazing couple of years, and as we continue to just build and develop what we’re trying to do here, I think it’s a great way to stay sharp.”

The Spurs and Thunder recently met in the semifinals of the NBA Cup. It was just Oklahoma City’s second loss of the season in the first 26 games. See you again in next competition for both on Christmas Dayholding the third meeting in more than two weeks.

“Playing them, playing them again in a few days, playing them again after we play them in the Cup, right?” Barnes added. “So it’s good for us to keep getting these opportunities for this preparation.”

Harrison Barnes breaks down the similarities between the Spurs and the Thunder

Barnes didn’t act shy when asked about his thoughts on the NBA tryout build the Spurs-Thunder rivalry.

“Both teams have young cores that want to win and want to play at a high level, both in the West, so I think in order to achieve the ultimate goal, which is to hang another banner, we’re both aiming for the same thing. So yeah, I think you could see that.”

The 33-year-old striker also made a big difference.

“Obviously they won the championship last year. They’re healthy,” Barnes also exclaimed. “When you have two teams that have big aspirations about where they want to go and what they want to do and obviously, I think age is a factor too, isn’t it!

“Outside of me, most of these guys are around the same age. So there’s just a closeness built into them, whether it’s playing in high school or playing in college or just different things like that.”

The Spurs knocked off Oklahoma City once last year. The Thunder won the other three matches; two of them were competitive between the eventual champion and the team that finished with 34 wins at the end of the season Victor Vembanyama’s injuries and De’Aaron Fox.

“I think it’s the familiarity,” Barnes noted. “We’ve played OKC a lot the past few years. There’s that competition, and both teams want more.”

While the Thunder lead the West after already winning the league, for the Spurs, these back-to-back games against the best provide a benchmark.

“I think it allows you to see what your will is, right? And I think the details are starting to become known on both sides,” Barnes admitted. “And I think when you start doing that, it gives you, not necessarily a playoff kind of streak, but you start to become very familiar with your opponent. How they play, they know how we play, and it just becomes who wants it more.”

That is the reality of Barnes and The Spurs’ hope serves them well against the Thunder down the road.





2025-12-23 23:10:00

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