It was always meant to end like this. The Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs have been the West’s two wire-to-wire forces. Each side eclipsed 60 wins in dominant fashion. Together, they forged a searing rivalry that continues to take on philosophical and spiritual elements.OKC, reigning NBA champion and unbeaten through two playoff rounds, approaches the sport with clinical precision. San Antonio, surging upstart and defiant challenger, wears its emotions with pride. While Shai Gilgeous-Alexander pursues another postseason triumph, Victor Wembanyama tries to break through for the first time.“Loud & Loyal” line the airport tarmac. “Jackals” are beating the drum. Conference finals don’t shape up much better than this. Here’s the updated schedule and broadcast information for all seven potential games.How to watch No. 1 Oklahoma City Thunder vs. No. 2 San Antonio SpursGameDateTime (ET)TVStream1: @ OKCMon., May 188:30 p.m.NBCPeacock2: @ OKCWed., May 208:30 p.m.NBCPeacock3: @ SAFri., May 228:30 p.m.NBCPeacock4: @ SASun., May 248 p.m.NBCPeacock5*: @ OKCTue., May 268:30 p.m.NBCPeacock6*: @ SAThu., May 288:30 p.m.NBCPeacock7*: @ OKCSat., May 308 p.m.NBCPeacock* if necessaryNBC is free over the air.How the Thunder got hereOklahoma City is a steely 8-0 so far in this postseason, with convincing sweeps of the Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Lakers. Six of those eight wins came by double digits.The efficient Thunder lead the playoffs in offensive rating and assist-to-turnover ratio. Gilgeous-Alexander has put up 29.1 points on better than 51 percent shooting. Ajay Mitchell, who scored just 3.4 points per game in last year’s title run, is up to 18.8 per game through two rounds.The dual 7-footers have been motorized concrete on defense — Chet Holmgren is averaging 3.2 stocks (steals+blocks), while opponents are shooting below 38 percent against Isaiah Hartenstein. Mark Daigneault’s team is humming through the loud speaker.Lengthy Oklahoma City controls both ends with its aggressive contortion of space. Gilgeous-Alexander slashes and gets to the line, as his teammates zip around off the ball. Cason Wallace and Alex Caruso are relentless in the perimeter lanes. For almost two years straight now, these Thunder have dictated game tempo in unforgiving fashion.Jalen Williams missed the whole Lakers series with a Grade 1 hamstring strain. While OKC has clearly fared well without him, it will get a boost with him set to return for the conference finals.This becomes a legacy series for Gilgeous-Alexander, who is now the 14th NBA player to win back-to-back MVP awards. And it’s a historic opportunity for the Thunder, who can be the first team to reach consecutive finals since the “Death Lineup” Golden State Warriors. Wilder still, Caruso is the only player in their main rotation over the age of 28.How the Spurs got hereSan Antonio is a strong 8-3 across playoff action, but it had palpable scares in both rounds.Wembanyama hit his head and went down midway through Game 2 of the opening bout with the Portland Trail Blazers. He missed the subsequent game in concussion protocol, only to return with a righteous fury.The Spurs’ 7-foot-4 extraterrestrial was then ejected from Game 4 of their second-round swing against the Minnesota Timberwolves. They took that L and dropped to a 2-2 series tie … then proceeded to win out in consecutive blowouts: one by 29 points and the other by a full 30. It was a definitive and graceful recovery for Mitch Johnson’s group.San Antonio tops the playoff field in defensive rating. Wembanyama has an absurd 4.1 blocks per game this postseason, to go along with 20.3 points and 10.7 boards. Four of his teammates are averaging between 12 and 19 points — Stephon Castle at 19.9, De’Aaron Fox at 18.8, Dylan Harper at 13.7 and Devin Vassell at 12.5.Julian Champagnie and Keldon Johnson have been hot from beyond the arc; Luke Kornet is holding his own as the backup center. The inside-out offense looks balanced and fearless, even when opponents try to push the pace and neutralize Wembanyama as an anchor.Like their nemeses, the Spurs are precociously young. Fox is the eldest of their top contributors at just 28 years old. Yet a connective energy keeps this team in line with the franchise’s past glory. He now goes by “El Jefe,” but Gregg Popovich is very much still in the gym. This is San Antonio’s first conference finals berth since 2016-17, when Popovich roamed the sideline and Kawhi Leonard assumed the mantle.Through his near-impossible elastic reach and a monkish devotion to self-improvement, Wembanyama has swiftly reimagined the dimensions of this sport. The Thunder are a formidable boss, but the first-ever unanimous Defensive Player of the Year is uniquely qualified to play spoiler.Head-to-head matchups this seasonSan Antonio won 4-1.Yes, even though the Thunder tallied the league’s best record, they couldn’t quite figure out the Spurs.Their first meeting came in the NBA Cup semifinal on Dec. 13. San Antonio prevailed in a hard-fought 111-109 finish. Wembanyama came off the bench as he recovered from a calf strain — he scored 22 points in less than 21 minutes, and recorded a team-best plus-21.The Spurs then won by 20 at home on Dec. 23. Their guests shot 54.1 percent from the floor and made 40 percent of their treys, to no avail. Wembanyama clocked 23 minutes but didn’t start that game, though it was Keldon Johnson who made the biggest difference off the bench with 25 points on 10-of-16 efficiency. Two days later on Christmas, San Antonio played the part of the Grinch in OKC’s own gym. Fox set the tone with 29 points on 19 shots, and the defense held the Thunder below 39 percent shooting.Oklahoma City’s lone win came on Jan. 13, a 119-98 home showing. Wembanyama finally started, but Gilgeous-Alexander made the headlines with a 34/5/5 line and added four blocks. Jalen Williams had 20 points in support. The Spurs seized the fifth and final matchup on Feb. 4, but the Thunder rested most of their rotation in that one.Thunder vs. Spurs playoff historyOklahoma City leads 2-1.These franchises have met three times since the Seattle SuperSonics became the Thunder in 2008-09. The Thunder won the 2012 conference finals by a 4-2 mark — Kevin Durant averaged 29.5 points on 53.2 percent shooting from the field, while James Harden dropped 18.5 points off the bench and made more than 60 percent of his 3s.The Spurs got their revenge two years later and took the 2014 conference finals in a reciprocal six games. Tim Duncan unsurprisingly paced his crew with 17.8 points and 10.2 rebounds per game, but Popovich’s next two leading scorers were bench options Manu Ginóbili and Boris Diaw. San Antonio closed out Game 6 in overtime, thanks to Diaw’s heroic 26-point effort, and then went on to win it all.Oklahoma City broke the tie with a tense series victory in the second round of the 2016 playoffs. Although San Antonio was 40-1 at home that season, OKC stole two road Ws to advance. Game 2 featured a controversial, physical closing stretch; Game 5 was sealed by Russell Westbrook’s gutsy 35-piece.All three of those series went six games. Let’s see if this year’s installment bucks the trend, one way or another.Streaming and ticketing links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic. Restrictions may apply. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process, and do not review stories before publication.