The Oklahoma City Thunder still haven’t weathered their post-All-Star game storm. They dropped yet another close game against the lowly Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday. That certainly isn’t the type of preparation they had in mind as they come into Saturday’s game looking to do something no team in the NBA has done this season: steal a game from the Spurs in San Antonio.
Read on below for our preview of this big Western Conference showdown. And for more of Saturday’s NBA action, check out our preview of the Suns vs. Warriors.
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Oklahoma City Thunder vs. San Antonio Spurs Preview
Where: AT&T Center, San Antonio
When: Saturday, March 12, 8:30 PM ET
Line: Oklahoma City Thunder at San Antonio Spurs – view all NBA lines
TV Broadcast: ABC
Betting on the Oklahoma City Thunder (44-21)
After winning two in a row for the first time in a month, the Oklahoma City Thunder suffered yet another bad loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Some might see this as a typical trap game, seeing as the Spurs were on the horizon on the second night of a back-to-back. But then again, the Thunder just haven’t looked right for weeks now. They’re just 4-7 (3-6-2 ATS) since the All-Star break, with five of those losses by just five points or fewer.Offense should hardly ever be a problem with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook around. Durant is averaging over 30 points per game in March, while Westbrook (22 points, 11 assists, seven rebounds per game) has been his all-around best.
The Thunder’s supporting cast just remains too inconsistent, though. Serge Ibaka went scoreless in 20 minutes as he eventually fouled out against Minnesota. Meanwhile, their wing trio of Andre Roberson, Kyle Singler and Anthony Morrow combined to go 3-of-18 from the field and 0-of-11 from three.
Their defense hasn’t helped either. The Thunder are 26th in defensive efficiency since the All-Star break.
A bounce-back performance from Durant and co. shouldn’t be counted out, especially after such a bad loss. However, the Thunder just haven’t been trustworthy in recent games, and even more so on the road. They’re only 5-14-1 ATS in their last 20 road games.
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Betting on the San Antonio Spurs (55-10)
Pop quiz: how many home games have the San Antonio Spurs lost this season? That’s right, zero. The Spurs are still right on the Warriors’ heels with a perfect 31-0 home record this year, with the latest win coming against the Chicago Bulls, 109-101.
They’ve haven’t quite been the same force that was consistently blowing teams out of the AT&T Center, though. They’ve gone just 4-6 ATS in their last 10 home games. The Spurs have slowed down a tad in part due to injuries, but also in part due to head coach Gregg Popovich’s habit of sitting/resting his stars.
However, the Spurs are now back to full strength for the first time in a while. (They also have a brand new piece in Kevin Martin.) Kawhi Leonard, LaMarcus Aldridge and Tony Parker celebrated that fact by all scoring 20 or more points in their recent win over the Bulls.
The Spurs lost their first meeting against the Thunder this season, 112-106, on the road, but they’ve owned OKC in San Antonio. They’re 4-1 SU and ATS in their last five home games against the Thunder. And with the Thunder looking terrible over the last few weeks, the Spurs have a great chance of extending that homecourt dominance over OKC.
Writer’s Prediction
The Spurs thump the Thunder at home, 110-95.