Is Nikola Jokić having the best season ever?
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Good morning and welcome to the NBA Daily for December 29th, 2025. I'm Dave DeFore here with Espera Henne and Zena Keita. Coming up, the Spurs own the Thunder. Man, the Thunder, falling like a rock. And we got an MVP race update. And after the break, guys, we're going to talk about some happenings around the league and whether they're real or not. Good morning, everybody. What's up, guys? Hello. What up? Been a minute. Hope you had a great little Christmas break. It'll be another short week for us this week. We're going to take New Year's off.
What happened in the Spurs vs. Thunder game?
I was offered a tofu turkey, Dave.
I feel like that'd be something you'd be interested in.
Tofurky is good. I had that at Thanksgiving. It's surprisingly good with the mushroom gravy.
How is Nikola Jokić performing this season?
I agree. Fantastic. Wow.
What are the latest updates in the MVP race?
Yeah.
No, let's move on, everyone.
Yeah, okay. Hey, guys, we talk all the time about narratives, right? Like the NBA is a narrative league. It's one of the ways that you kind of, we cover the sport that way, but also it's a good way to watch it. The storylines, they just shift. Daily, it feels like. And, man, what a world of difference, in our opinion, of the Oklahoma City Thunder from two weeks ago when we were all in Vegas, that first loss to the Spurs. I mean, we were all kind of shocked. And at this point, guys, they're 6-4 in their last 10. It's, you know, a little bit of I think the luster maybe has fallen off. Part of this is they ran into the Spurs team that is a bit of a thunder buzzsaw. They're now 0-3 against the Spurs after dropping the back-to-back games with the last one being on Christmas.
They lose that game to the Wolves. We talked about how the Wolves just they tend to do well in these sort of high-pressure games against teams like OKC. So I just want to ask, and S, I'll start with you. Did the Spurs solve the Thunder, or are we just watching, you know, maybe the Thunder get into a harder part of their schedule? Yeah, they're the antidote, you know?
They are the team that's been built to destroy the Thunder. And I think that's why everybody... Hypes this up as a rivalry. That's why everybody looks at this and says this is going to be the NBA for the next five years because they look at the Spurs as a worthy rival. And it's happened quicker than we expected. Maybe not all, but it's happened quicker than we all expected for the most part. And I think part of that is this team has been constructed in a way. that matches so incredibly well with what the thunder struggle against athletes on the wings, uh, a guard tandem or trio that can get into the paint at will. And the other part is, um, they're perfect when it comes to guarding Jalen Williams and they are not afraid of Chet Holmgren.
You look at how they attack him on the offensive end. They're not afraid of the rim protection. Basically every other team is, um, It just – it's a match made in heaven for the Spurs. And I think now – As you said, Dave, I think it's on the Thunder to answer back. It's how are you going to respond the next time you guys play each other? That's why it's a rivalry.
What I love most about what you said, S, is that they are built to dismantle the Thunder. And when you watch teams play the Thunder, you often see them come out of character trying to become the Thunder. They try to run in transition. They try to be extra aggressive on the wings on defense. They try to get their offense to come from turnovers into offense. If that's not your game, that's not your game. The thing about the Spurs is that is just a part of their game. They can play the half court and they can play the fast game that the Thunder like to play. And what you see is basically the Spurs decide, you know what? Sometimes we'll run off of our turnovers that we generate, but a lot of the times we're just gonna hammer it to you in the paint, in the half court, and you are not gonna know what to do with that.
The Thunder do not do well with the Spurs paint touches. The Spurs pretty much take away their mid-range game. They don't really have much of a mid-range game when they play the Thunder.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:07–0:45
2
What happened in the Spurs vs. Thunder game?
0:45–0:53
3
How is Nikola Jokić performing this season?
0:53–0:56
4
What are the latest updates in the MVP race?
0:56–6:36
5
What did Scottie Barnes achieve in his recent game?
6:36–7:15
6
What impact does Giannis Antetokounmpo's return have on the Bucks?
7:15–8:20
7
Why are the Cavaliers struggling this season?
8:20–25:56