Oklahoma City Thunder vs. San Antonio Spurs Preview
Where: AT&T Center – San Antonio, Texas
When: Tuesday, January 31, 2017, 8:30 PM ET
Line: Oklahoma City Thunder (+9) at San Antonio Spurs (-9); total: 211.0 – view all NBA lines
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Betting on the Oklahoma City Thunder (28-20)
The Oklahoma City Thunder had their three-game unbeaten run snapped on Sunday with a 107-91 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. It was a disappointing defeat for the Thunder, who dropped to 12-14 on the road this season.
The Thunder struggled to find their offensive rhythm in that ballgame as they missed the services of sixth man Enes Kanter. The Turkish big man broke his right forearm slamming a chair Thursday and will be out for at least a month. He has been a revelation for Oklahoma City this season, averaging 14.4 points and 6.7 rebounds per game off the bench.
Russell Westbrook did his darndest to lift the Thunder, posting his 24th triple-double this season against Cleveland (20 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists). He has been a vital cog in OKC’s success this season, leading the team not only in points (30.8 PPG) but also in rebounds (10.6 RPG), assists (10.2 APG) and steals (1.6 SPG) as well.
He can’t do it all alone, though, and he needs the other Thunder players to step up their play as well against the Spurs. One guy who needs to improve on his production against San Antonio is Victor Oladipo. He shot just 6-of-18 from the field in the loss to Cleveland. OKC’s starting backcourt, in particular, struggled mightily against the Cavs, shooting just 13-of-44 from the field in that contest.
OKC is 5-5 ATS in its last 10 road games.
Betting on the San Antonio Spurs (36-11)
What in the world is happening to San Antonio? The Spurs succumbed to their second consecutive defeat with a heart-breaking 105-101 loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday. The Spurs had no answer for Seth Curry, who scored 24 points and grabbed 10 boards. It was another disappointing result for the Spurs, who had their 12-game winning streak against the Mavs snapped.
The Spurs will look to get their season back on track when they face the Oklahoma City Thunder later tonight. For San Antonio to grab the much-needed victory, it needs to improve on its play on the defensive end. In their last two defeats, opponents have scored an average of 112 points. That’s way above their scoring defense average of 99.3 points. To make matters worse for head coach Gregg Popovich, his team also committed a whopping 11 turnovers in this contest.
The onus now is on Kawhi Leonard to stabilize the San Antonio offense. He leads the Spurs in scoring this season with 25.4 points a game. He scored 24 points and grabbed seven boards in the loss to the Mavs. He averaged 28.0 points and 6.7 boards in three meetings with the Thunder last season.
San Antonio is 7-3 ATS in its last 10 home games.
Writer’s Prediction
San Antonio (-9) wins, 105-92.
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