San Antonio Spurs vs Oklahoma City Thunder NBA Betting Preview & Odds
Western Conference hoops and we will see the San Antonio Spurs travel to Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma to take on the Oklahoma City Thunder. NBA TV will carry this game, which has a start time of 8:00 pm EST.
Current betting odds for this game have the have the Thunder listed as 12 point favorites, while the total has been set at 206.
Head-To-Head This Year: The Thunder took the first game this year 112-106 as 4 point home favorites… San Antonio won the 2nd game by a 93-85 score as 8.5 point home favorites.
he San Antonio Spurs come in with the 2nd best record in the league at 61-11, which includes a mark of 24-11 on the road. Despite their strong record, the spurs have been flying a bit under the radar as the Warriors have clearly been the talk of the league. In his tenure with the Spurs HC coach Gregg Popovich has used certain games throughout the season as throw away games as those are the games that he really rest his starters and this is one of the games. Tonight the spurs will be without Tony Parker (12.1 ppg), Manu Ginobili ( 9.5 ppg), Tim Duncan (8.5 ppg) and most likely Lamarcus Aldridge (17.9 ppg and is questionable for this game) all because of scheduled rest, plus they are without leading scorer Kawhi Leonard (21.0 ppg) due injury. That is a lot to replace and is the reason why they are such huge dogs in this one, but the spurs are a deep team and have played well in this situation before. Defense has been the name of the game for the Spurs this year as they check in at tops in the league in points allowed, giving up just 92.4 ppg, while also ranking 1st in defensive FG% overall and 2nd in three point defense. On offense the Spurs are 6th in the league in scoring, putting up 104.5 ppg, while also ranking 1st in shooting overall, 2nd from long range and 2nd from the charity stripe. On the road the Spurs have averaged 102.9 ppg on 48.4% shooting, while allowing 94.0 ppg on 43.8% shooting.
Trends: The Spurs are 14-5 ATS in their last 19 games playing on 0 days rest and 23-9 ATS in their last 32 games following a ATS loss, but just 2-8 ATS in their last 10 games following a straight up win and 1-5 ATS in their last 6 after scoring 100 points or more in their previous game. The Over is 23-10 in their last 33 vs the Northwest, while the Under is 6-1 in their last 7 road games.
The Oklahoma City Thunder come playing some good ball as they have won their last six games in a row and are now 50-22 on the year, including 29-9 at home. If the playoffs started today then they would have the 3rd seed in the West. This will be a dangerous team in the playoffs and will give both the Spurs or the Warriors all they can handle in a 7 game series. The Thunder are led by Kevin Durant, who averages 27.8 ppg, which is 3rd in the league and he also leads the team in rebounding at 8.3 rpg. Russell Westbrook is second at 23.6 ppg, while also grabbing 7.7 rpg and dishing 10.4 apg. He has really been a stat sheet stuffer of late as he has 6 triple doubles in his last 10 games. Serge Ibaka (12.6 ppg) and Enes Kanter (12.3 ppg) also average in double figures for the Thunder. Oklahoma City comes in ranked 2nd in the league in scoring, putting up 110.2 ppg, while also ranking 3rd in shooting overall, 17th from long range and 7th from the charity stripe. The defensive numbers are pretty average as they come in ranked 15th in points allowed, giving up 102.9 ppg, while also ranking 8th defensive FG% overall and 8th in 3-point defense. At home this year the Thunder have averaged 109.2 ppg on 47.7% shooting, while allowing 100.0 ppg on 44.4% shooting.
Trends: The Thunder are 28-9-2 ATS in their last 39 home games vs. a team with a road winning % of greater than .600 and 10-2 ATS their last 12 home games in this series, but are also 4-10-1 ATS in their last 15 games vs. a team with a winning % above .600 and 6-15 ATS in their last 21 games following a ATS win. The Over is 12-4 in their last 16 games playing on 1 days rest, while the Under is 8-3 in their last 11 home games vs. a team with a winning road record
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