Thunder vs Spurs, SGA vs Wemby: Predicting the West and MVP races as 2025-26 NBA season draws to a close

Alta Sports5 days ago · 335 views

Thunder vs Spurs, SGA vs Wemby: Predicting the West and MVP races as 2025-26 NBA season draws to a close image

By Joel Reyes

The race for the NBA’s best record and regular season MVP is going down to the wire with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s Oklahoma City Thunder and Victor Wembanyama’s San Antonio Spurs locked in a tight battle for first place in the Western Conference.

The Thunder currently hold a 2.5-game lead over the Spurs after they recorded a thrilling comeback win over the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday (PH time). San Antonio still has an excellent chance, however, of claiming the top seed in the West as the Spurs own the tiebreaker against the Thunder thanks to a 4-1 edge in their season series.

Alta Sports looks at the remaining schedule of both teams, offering a prediction on who among the Thunder and Spurs will enter the 2026 NBA Playoffs as the No. 1 overall seed, as well as the intriguing MVP battle between SGA and Wemby.

Oklahoma City Thunder (60-16)

Remaining schedule

April 3 - vs Los Angeles Lakers (Home) - W

April 6 – vs Utah Jazz (Home) - W

April 8 – at Los Angeles Lakers (Away) - L

April 9 – at Los Angeles Clippers (Away) - W

April 11 – at Denver Nuggets (Away) - L

April 13 – vs Phoenix Suns (Home) - W

The Thunder will finish their five-game home stand with critical showdowns against the Los Angeles Lakers and Utah Jazz. Oklahoma City, which has a 32-6 home record thus far this season, will continue its excellent form at Paycom Center, beating the Lakers and the Jazz convincingly.

Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images

The Lakers will exact revenge, though, against the Thunder, when they face off again at Crypto.com Arena on April 8. Oklahoma City will bounce back from that defeat, beating the Clippers the following day to complete the season sweep against them.

The Thunder will conclude their three-game road trip with a tough matchup against the Nuggets on April 11. Denver will grab the victory in that contest to avoid the season sweep. Oklahoma City returns home for its final regular-season game against Phoenix, with the Thunder nabbing the win to finish the 2025-26 campaign with a 64-18 record.

San Antonio Spurs (57-18)

Remaining schedule

April 2 – at Golden State Warriors - W

April 3 – at Los Angeles Clippers - L

April 5 – at Denver Nuggets - L

April 7 – vs Philadelphia 76ers - W

April 9 – vs Portland Trail Blazers - W

April 11 – vs Dallas Mavericks - W

April 13 – vs Denver Nuggets - W

The Spurs will begin their three-game road trip with a victory against the struggling Warriors. Their bid to claim the top seed in the West will face a setback, though, when they clash with the red-hot Clippers in the second game of a back-to-back.

Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images

San Antonio will lose that contest as well as the following game against Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets to finish the road trip with a 1-2 slate.

The Spurs will return home to finish their regular season, hosting Philadelphia, Portland, Dallas, and Denver in a seven-day span. San Antonio will win all of those games to finish the 2025-26 season with a 62-20 record.

Final Prediction

The Thunder will finish two games ahead of the Spurs for the league’s best record, posting a 64-18 slate. OKC claiming the No. 1 seed in the West will prove to be the difference in the MVP race, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander capturing the Michael Jordan Trophy for the second consecutive season.

Victor Wembanyama will fall short in his bid to win his first-ever NBA MVP award following the Spurs’ 62-20 finish, but he will take home the Defensive Player of the Year award as a consolation prize.

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