Spurs-Thunder game in Vegas showed a rivalry is here. Now they'll meet twice on Christmas week

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, according to the catchy marketing slogan that has been around for years.

It'll likely be disproven this week.

The NBA loves rivalries: Lakers vs. Celtics, Michael Jordan vs. LeBron James in the never-ending GOAT debate, Reggie Miller vs. Madison Square Garden, that sort of thing. Another one has been brewing in recent months and might have finally reached official status last week in Las Vegas, when San Antonio ousted Oklahoma City in the NBA Cup semifinals and handed the Thunder what was just their second loss of the season.

As schedule luck would have it, this week brings not one, but two Spurs-Thunder rematches — one of them just happening to come on Christmas Day before what will be a global television audience. And the question was posed to Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander last week, whether this could become the best rivalry in the NBA.

“There’s a good chance,” Gilgeous-Alexander said.

He's not wrong. It seems to meet the criteria.

The Thunder are the reigning champs with a roster that makes it seem like they should contend for more titles over the next several seasons. The Spurs are the franchise trying to recapture what was a perennial role as a championship contender, led by a generational talent in Victor Wembanyama. Gilgeous-Alexander is the reigning MVP; it won't be long until Wembanyama starts getting votes for that trophy. It doesn't seem like the teams are overly fond of one another; it's not wild and crazy when they meet, but it's also fair to say both sides seem to play like there's a little something extra on the line in these matchups.

And both teams are basically the biggest game in their respective towns; neither city has an NFL, NHL or Major League Baseball team to brag about.

“I think we’re on the right path,” Wembanyama said last week. “And for the first time in my career — not in the case of everybody in our group — but for the first time in my career, we’re winning much more than we’re losing. So, it’s a lot of pleasure."

The Spurs are good again. That's already clear. They're 21-7 through 28 games; they went 22-60 in both the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons, then won 34 games last year. Barring a collapse, which is possible in the absurdly loaded Western Conference, the Spurs are a playoff team and maybe one good enough to host Game 1 of a first- or second-round series. The job Mitch Johnson has done in his first full season as coach is evidence why the Spurs didn't hesitate about making him Gregg Popovich's successor.

And the Thunder are somewhere well past good. That's also clear. The NBA champions last season, winners of 68 regular season games a year ago, on pace this season to smash the point-differential record that they set last season. Sure, the Spurs beat them last week. The Thunder almost welcomed what that meant.

“I think it’s a good game for to us learn from in general,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “It’s an 82-game season. We want to be a team that gets better through all of our experiences. You’re not going to be perfect every game. When you have some slippage or you have a game where you’re not on the ball in certain areas, you have to be a team that looks in the mirror on that and addresses it quickly and gets those things tightened back up. This team has always done an unbelievable job of that.”

These two games that await — in San Antonio on Tuesday, in Oklahoma City on Thursday for the Christmas afternoon game — are just regular season contests. Nobody is clinching a playoff berth, nobody is clinching home-court, nobody is winning a trophy, nobody is getting eliminated. And unlike the NBA Cup game last week, there's no extra money at stake, either.

But they could see this rivalry grow a little more, especially after what happened in Vegas. They'll meet once in January, then once in early February, and then if they see each other again this season it won't be until the playoffs.

And if that happens, that's when the rivalry will get very real.

“It’s always fun to go against good teams, especially when they are young, athletic, kind of play a similar brand,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “And yeah, moments like (those) definitely help you sharpen tools for later in the season when you really want to win big.”

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Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jaylin Williams (6) and San Antonio Spurs forward Keldon Johnson (3) collide while going for a rebound during the second half of an NBA Cup semifinals basketball game, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ronda Churchill)

San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) stands on court before film crews after playing in an NBA Cup semifinals basketball game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ronda Churchill)

San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) lands on the court during the second half of an NBA Cup semifinals basketball game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ronda Churchill)

San Antonio Spurs guard Devin Vassell (24) and teammates walk towards their bench at the end of an NBA Cup semifinals basketball game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ronda Churchill)

San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) shoots the ball near Oklahoma City Thunder guard Jalen Williams (8) in the second half of an NBA Cup semifinals basketball game, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ronda Churchill)

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Through the dust kicked up by the pounding hooves of a scrum of horses and riders, a winner emerges. The victorious team gallops around the playing field, holding a flag aloft.

The final of Afghanistan’s hugely popular annual tournament of buzkashi, a traditional equestrian sport with few formal rules that is known for its often violent scrums, was played Monday.

Traditionally, riders from two opposing teams would compete to score goals using a goat carcass as a ball. A fake carcass is now used, made of leather and rope and stuffed with straw and weights to simulate the size and weight of a dead animal.

The players — 12 riders on each team — hang out of the saddle at impossible angles, swooping down to grab the fake carcass and gallop ahead of the rest of the riders toward the goal.

The game was banned during the Taliban’s first rule of Afghanistan in the late 1990s but reemerged after their ouster, and they have allowed it to continue since seizing power again in 2021, with government officials attending the matches.

Monday’s final, in which the northern province of Sar-e-Pul crushed the northeastern province of Badakhshan 7-0, was the 11th day of the national league tournament. The province of Baghlan came third and Kunduz fourth out of the 11 teams that participated.

Eight foreign players from Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan also joined the teams, said Atal Mashwani, the spokesman of Afghanistan’s General Directorate of Physical Education and Sports.

A corporate sponsor — a gasoline company — ensures funding for the tournament, and there is a prize of a car for each of the first four teams, as well as cups, medals and certificates.

The tournament is wildly popular, with thousands of men and boys packing the spectator stands in the playing field in central Kabul. Some scrambled up trees or electricity pylons for a better view.

Restrictions placed on women and girls in Afghanistan mean they are not allowed to attend as spectators — although in the country’s conservative society, women attending such matches was frowned upon even when there were no formal restrictions on their movements.

Afghan men cheer as they attend the final of Afghanistan's annual buzkashi tournament, a traditional equestrian sport in which riders compete to score points using a fake goat carcass, on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Dec. 22, 2025. (AP Photo)

Riders from the Sar-e-Pul and Badakhshan teams enter the field to compete in the final of Afghanistan's annual buzkashi tournament, a traditional equestrian sport in which riders score points using a fake goat carcass, on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Dec. 22, 2025. (AP Photo)

Taliban authorities attend the final match of Afghanistan's annual buzkashi tournament, a traditional equestrian sport in which riders compete to score points using a fake goat carcass, on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Dec. 22, 2025. (AP Photo)

Riders from the Sar-e-Pul and Badakhshan teams compete in the final of Afghanistan's annual buzkashi tournament, a traditional equestrian sport in which riders score points using a fake goat carcass, on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Dec. 22, 2025. (AP Photo)

Riders from the Sar-e-Pul and Badakhshan teams compete in the final of Afghanistan's annual buzkashi tournament, a traditional equestrian sport in which riders score points using a fake goat carcass, on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Dec. 22, 2025. (AP Photo)