Chapter 1: 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.
Chapter 2: 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.
Chapter 3: How is Nikola Jokić performing this season?
I agree. Fantastic. Wow.
Chapter 4: 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.
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Chapter 5: What did Scottie Barnes achieve in his recent game?
I mean, Dylan Harper, you know, we talked about this in that Cubs game that the Spurs lost. He's big. You saw Dylan Harper when he was leaning on Jalen Brunson, and you could just see how much bigger he is than the average kind of point guard out in the NBA. So you've got – it's really like what the Spurs have built.
It's similar to if you think about the Timberwolves being built with the Nuggets in mind. Only the Spurs have really built a Spurs – version of this special basketball team.
And to your point about the guards, though, and the size, like, I'm happy you brought up the fact that they can pressure early because that's another thing that when it comes to beating OKC, it's really also beating Shea, right? And finding a way to contain Shea.
Chapter 6: What impact does Giannis Antetokounmpo's return have on the Bucks?
And we know that Shea is elite when he has single coverage, but when you've got Dylan Harper, Tavon Castle, um...
uh Devin Vassell De'Aaron Fox rotating in those guard positions they send early help and it make it makes Shea either give the ball up a little bit earlier pass out to his teammates and and they also have late contests they have both available to you and so it just you see Shea like in the contest this year his free throw rate has not been that great again he's not getting to line as much so that also helps from the guard perspective yeah I
I honestly think that's why if these two end up playing in the playoffs, it has to be a big Jalen Williams series. It has to be a big Chet Holmgren series on offense. It's those guys that are going to be the determining factor because Schaefer is most for the most part, even if he didn't get to the free throw line, like got his own.
Oh, yeah. Right.
Mm hmm. It's those guys that are the difference maker between this being a very good playoff team winning 60-plus games and the team we were talking about, which is 70-plus games winning a championship again.
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Chapter 7: Why are the Cavaliers struggling this season?
74 is off the table, right?
It is now off the table.
And 70, I think, is a stretch when you look at some of this team's flaws. And it does feel like the league maybe is trying – Everyone's always trying to catch up to the Thunder, right?
Their schedule's getting harder, too. They haven't played the Nuggets yet. You know what I mean? I want to ask you guys this about the Spurs. This might sound a little crazy. I like crazy. Can the Spurs win the championship this year?
What did I say? On that Saturday night, I was maybe a little bit punchy because it was late night in Vegas and we had just watched, you know, six hours of basketball. But guys, I cannot put a ceiling on this Spurs team. They have veteran presence. They've got guys who've been there before and played in big games.
They have Victor Wiminyama, who by the end of the season might be the best player in the world, although we'll talk about Jokic in a little bit. And I just, again, they've got three guys that I think you could make a case for. Well, I mean, Dylan Harper hasn't played enough, but you see it there in the future for him. So, you know, I don't know.
Experience is the only thing holding them back, right?
That's the one thing. Yeah, experience for sure. The consistency in Victor Rabanyama is like something that we still have to see pretty, you know, pretty evenly. But it does... it is hard to put a ceiling on it mainly to me because of the depth. Like they've got the people that can come in when whoever's on foul trouble, whoever's tired, whatever, they've got other people that can step up.
They've got a roster dude.
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