Why Jalen Williams believes the Spurs make OKC a ‘better team’

OKLAHOMA CITY — Doc Oklahoma City Thunder All-Star Jaylen Williams dismissed the rivalry discussion connected with San Antonio Spurs after the 119-98 victory, he admitted that the three losses in December made the defending champions better. Williams and the Thunder avenged their three losses in 12 days against the Spurs, which put the All-Star forward in a reflective space during his postgame media availability.

Williams says the Spurs are pushing the Thunder to be the bestwhich was indeed the case in Tuesday’s 21-point win.

“They make us a better team when we play them — win or lose — we have to play the right way every time we play them,” Williams said. “And that forces us to have to do other things to win. We were able to do that tonight. When you play teams like that, you just have to pay attention to the details throughout the game. Otherwise, the game will kind of get out of hand, and that was the case here.”

Williams and the Thunder learned from the mistakes they made in previous games against the Spurs.

“The last time we played them in San Antonio, we did it well in the first half and then we had a stretch where we didn’t do it well,” Williams added. “And then it kind of got away. We were able to kind of nip it in the bud.”

Jaylen Williams on beating Spurs after three losses this season: “They make us a better team when we play them – win or lose – we have to play the right way every time we play them

And that makes us do other things to win” pic.twitter.com/OVZ7VBil3k

— Joshua Pavon (@joe_svai) January 14, 2026

Williams finished with 20 points on 9-of-15 shooting, three assists and two steals against the Spurs. Without starters Isaiah Hartenstein and Lou Dort, the Thunder outscored the Spurs 40-24 after halftime and held them to 40% shooting from the floor. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored a game-high 34 points on 11-of-23 shooting and 11-for-13 free throws. He also had five rebounds, five assists and tied a career high with four steals.

Why Jaylen Williams doesn’t care about the Spurs rivalry

All-Stars Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and The Thunder know that beating the Spurs is a good testas the defending champions avenged three losses to the only team to beat them more than once this season. Recovering from a 6-6 record in their worst 12-game stretch of the 2025-26 campaign, the Thunder have a 34-7 record in the median season of 82 games and a four-game winning streak.

Williams, when asked by a reporter if he considers the Spurs a new rival to the Thunder, downplayed the topic, adding that players aren’t usually the ones who decide which teams are the NBA’s newest rivals.

“You guys control the rivalry thing – we don’t really care,” Williams said. “The rivalry thing, if you have to ask, probably not yet.”

The Thunder will begin a four-game road trip with their first matchup against the Rockets on Thursday.