Spurs stretch winning run to pile pressure on Thunder in Western Conference race

Spurs extend winning run to close gap on Thunder as West title picture tightens

There are moments in an NBA season when a hot streak stops being just a nice story and starts feeling like a warning shot. Right now, the San Antonio Spurs are sending one loud enough for the entire Western Conference to hear — especially the Oklahoma City Thunder.

With a gritty 110-107 victory over the Toronto Raptors at Scotiabank Arena, the San Antonio Spurs stretched their winning run to 10 games, their longest since the 2015-16 campaign. It wasn’t flawless, it wasn’t always pretty, but it was mature, controlled and, above all, relentless.

At 42-16, the Spurs are now breathing down the necks of the Oklahoma City Thunder, who slipped to 45-15 after a road defeat to the surging Detroit Pistons. What looked like a comfortable cushion at the top of the West is suddenly looking far less secure.

Balanced scoring leads Spurs’ winning run

San Antonio’s latest step in this impressive winning run was powered by balance rather than individual brilliance. Devin Vassell poured in 21 points, while De’Aaron Fox added 20, providing the offensive backbone on a night when rhythm came and went.

And then there was Victor Wembanyama.

The French phenom finished with just 12 points — modest by his lofty standards — but anyone who only checks the box score would miss his imprint on the game. With 44 seconds remaining and the Raptors threatening to snatch control, Wembanyama delivered his fifth block of the night, a defensive intervention that preserved San Antonio’s fragile three-point lead. It was the kind of moment that doesn’t just win a game; it reinforces identity.

This Spurs team doesn’t panic. They execute. They trust one another. And increasingly, they look like a group that believes it belongs in the conversation at the very top of the conference.

Thunder stumble as Pistons take league lead

Spurs extend winning run to close gap on Thunder – AOL

While the Spurs were grinding out a road win in Canada, the Thunder were being outgunned in Detroit. Oklahoma City fell 124-116 to the Pistons, who continue to look like the most complete team in the NBA right now.

Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren each erupted for 29 points, overwhelming a Thunder side still missing their talisman, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The MVP has now missed nine straight games with injury, and Oklahoma City are feeling every bit of his absence.

Without their primary creator and late-game closer, the Thunder have looked slightly vulnerable — still dangerous, still deep, but not quite as assured. Against a Detroit side brimming with confidence, that margin was exposed.

The Pistons’ victory lifted them to 43-14, moving them past the Thunder for the league’s best overall record and strengthening their grip on the Eastern Conference summit.

Eastern Conference reshuffle

Detroit’s surge has also created daylight at the top of the East. The Boston Celtics failed to keep pace, falling 103-84 on the road to the Denver Nuggets.

Denver’s star center Nikola Jokic once again orchestrated the show, tallying 30 points and 12 rebounds in a performance that felt almost routine for a player of his absurdly high standards. Jokic controlled the tempo, dictated matchups and punished defensive switches with clinical efficiency.

Boston, by contrast, struggled to find offensive flow. Their perimeter shooting never truly warmed up, and once Denver established a double-digit cushion, the game drifted out of reach.

The ripple effect? Detroit now sit comfortably atop the East, with Boston chasing and the rest of the conference scrambling to keep up.

Bucks dig deep without Giannis

Elsewhere, the Milwaukee Bucks showed resilience in the continued absence of two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo. Sidelined with a calf injury, Giannis watched as his teammates edged out the Cleveland Cavaliers 118-116 in a nervy finish.

Milwaukee leaned on collective execution down the stretch, surviving a Cavaliers side that were themselves undermanned. Cleveland’s new acquisition, James Harden, was unavailable after suffering a broken thumb earlier in the week.

It was the type of win that doesn’t always make headlines but could loom large come playoff seeding time — a reminder that depth and composure matter just as much as star power in March and April.

Rockets and Warriors send statements

The Houston Rockets produced their most emphatic display of the season, dismantling the Sacramento Kings 128-97. From the opening quarter, Houston played with a freedom and sharpness that Sacramento simply couldn’t match.

Ball movement was crisp, transition defense disciplined, and the scoring came in waves. For a Rockets team still carving out its postseason ambitions, it felt like a performance that hinted at serious upside.

Meanwhile, the Golden State Warriors rolled past the Memphis Grizzlies 133-112. Golden State’s offensive rhythm clicked early, and once they found their perimeter range, Memphis struggled to contain the barrage.

Spurs extend winning run — and belief

But the headline story of the night belongs to San Antonio.

Ten straight wins. A 42-16 record. A narrowing gap on the Thunder. And perhaps most significantly, a growing sense that this is not a fleeting streak but a foundation.

The Spurs are defending with purpose, sharing scoring responsibilities and managing games with a composure that belies their relative youth. Wembanyama continues to evolve into a two-way anchor. Vassell and Fox are delivering timely offense. The bench has contributed meaningful minutes.

The Western Conference race is far from decided. Oklahoma City will eventually welcome Gilgeous-Alexander back. Denver are lurking. Golden State are rediscovering rhythm. But right now, momentum wears black and silver.

If the Spurs extend this winning run much further, the conversation will shift from “closing the gap on the Thunder” to something far more direct: who, exactly, is chasing whom?

For a franchise steeped in championship pedigree, this stretch has a familiar feel — steady, unflashy dominance built on habits rather than hype. And as the calendar edges closer to the postseason, that may prove to be the most dangerous formula of all.