The OKC Thunder suffered a home loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday in what marked its first Christmas Day game since 2018. Here are takeaways.

The Spurs join the long list of teams over the years that have deployed that strategy. As awesome as Caruso is on the defensive end, his inconsistent outshot shooting is equally a disadvantage. That's a theme throughout the Thunder's roster. Same goes for guys like Cason Wallace and Lu Dort.

The San Antonio Spurs are on a torrid run, winning eight in a row as well as back-to-back contests against the defending NBA champions, the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Spurs earned a third victory over the defending champs in 13 days, while the Knicks staged a big rally and Houston routed the Lakers.

The Thunder were in the Spurs' sneakers just two seasons ago. As Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ascended into a perennial MVP candidate, OKC won 57 games and grabbed the first seed on the final day of the 2023-24 regular season. Eventually, they lost to the Dallas Mavericks in Round 2 of the NBA playoffs.

De’Aaron Fox (29 points) paced a handful of Spurs players in double-digits, while Stephon Castle (19 points and 7 assists), Victor Wembanyama (19 points and 11 reboundes), and Harrison Barnes (15 points and 6 rebounds) supplied supporting firepower.