A preview of a possible Western Conference finals matchup is in store for us this Tuesday night, as the Oklahoma City Thunder and the San Antonio Spurs square off for the fourth and final time this season.
OKC heads into AT&T Center looking to win its regular-season series against San Antonio. The Spurs, on the other hand, will be seeking to regain some of their confidence back after dropping their last three games, including their first home loss at the hands of Golden State last weekend.
Read on below for a closer look at this colossal showdown. And if you’re up for some baseball action, click here for our breakdown of the game between the New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays.
[sc:NBAArticles ]Oklahoma City Thunder vs. San Antonio Spurs Betting Preview
Where: AT&T Center, San Antonio, TX
When: Tuesday, April 12, 2016, 8:00 PM ET
Line: Oklahoma City Thunder at San Antonio Spurs – view all NBA lines
TV Broadcast: TNT
Betting on the Oklahoma City Thunder (55-26)
[sc:NBA250 ]OKC heads into this game fresh off a much-needed, 33-point win over the Lakers last night. In that victory, Kevin Durant led the charge in terms of scoring with a game-high 34 points on 11-of-18 shooting from the field. Not to be outdone, though, was Russell Westbrook, who notched his 18th triple-double (13 points, 10 boards and 14 dimes) of the season.
Obviously, the Thunder’s hopes of winning tonight’s game will ultimately rely on these two offensive monsters. Both Durant and Westbrook own relatively good track records in this matchup, averaging 25.8 and 19.7 points respectively. And also, during OKC’s most recent meeting with San Antonio on March 26, the two combined for 60 points, 16 rebounds and 11 assists to get the eventual 111-92 victory over a depleted Spurs squad.
However, the Thunder don’t usually receive consistent production from their supporting cast. The team’s offense has been mainly spearheaded by Durant and Westbrook, which cannot be the case all the time. That being said, the pair of Enes Kanter and Dion Waiters have got to provide some much-needed spark off the bench.
Kanter was really quiet in the game versus the Lakers, as he tallied just two points and four rebounds. Prior to that game, though, the former Jazz center posted a career-high of 33 points along with 20 boards in a gut-wrenching loss to Sacramento on Saturday night.
Waiters, on the other hand, has been held to 13 points in his last two outings. Nevertheless, he remains an integral part of OKC’s bench. Waiters is racking up 9.7 points this season and holds career numbers of 12.0 points, 2.2 boards and 2.1 assists against the Spurs.
OKC is 5-5 SU and 6-4 ATS in its previous 10 games on the road.
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Betting on the San Antonio Spurs (65-15)
What’s done is done, and the Spurs need to keep moving forward. Yes, they missed their once-in-a-lifetime chance of going undefeated at home, but the goal of winning the Larry O’Brien Trophy remains the top priority.
The Spurs have two games remaining in the regular season, and those games–including this evening’s date with the visiting Thunder–are badly needed to help them regain some momentum back. Well, knowing Gregg Popovich, he should have his club back in tip-top shape and highly-motivated to get back on right track.
Expect Kawhi Leonard to be very aggressive in leading the offense against OKC. After all, he’ll be looking to redeem himself from a bad shooting performance (7-of-22) in the loss to Golden State last Sunday night. Leonard is averaging 20.9 points, 7.2 rebounds and 3.0 dimes across 38 home games this season.
Tony Parker, who is tallying 11.8 points per game, should be feeling the same way as well. He was limited to just four points, four assists and two rebounds in 29 minutes against the defending NBA champions.
Meanwhile, the best offense for the Spurs will continue to be their league-leading defense (92.9 points allowed per game). They’ll be faced with a pretty hefty task of stopping the likes of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. But as long as San Antonio makes those two work extremely hard for their points, its defense will eventually prevail.
San Antonio is 3-7 ATS in its last 10 games at the AT&T Center.
Writer’s Prediction
Spurs win, 101-96.
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