The San Antonio Spurs (51-26) are clearly ready for the playoffs. After another victory on Sunday, the Spurs improved their chances of getting a home court advantage in the postseason as they are now just one game back of the Memphis Grizzlies, who are third in the Western Conference standings. Will the Spurs continue their late-season domination? Or will Russell Westbrook and the rest of the Oklahoma City Thunder (42-35) stop San Antonio?
Read on for more about this game. You can also click here for the preview of Blazers vs. Nets.
[sc:NBAArticles ]San Antonio Spurs vs. Oklahoma City Thunder Preview
Where: Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City
When: Tuesday, April 7, 8:00 PM ET
Line: San Antonio Spurs vs. Oklahoma City Thunder – view all NBA lines
Betting on the San Antonio Spurs
[sc:NBA240banner ]San Antonio is destroying every team on its path. And that includes the league-leading Golden State Warriors, whom the Spurs crushed on Sunday, 107-92. With the victory, the Spurs extended their win streak to seven games. The Spurs have also covered the spread in all those games. They are 5.5-point chalks in the Golden State game.
Kawhi Leonard was on top of his game again against Golden State as the all-around swingman dropped 26 points on 11-of-17 shooting. He also added a career-high seven steals to underscore his importance and ability to do damage on both ends of the floor. Other than his usual role on offense, expect Leonard to be assigned to shadow OKC guard Russell Westbrook on Wednesday. The Spurs did a terrific job of defending against Westbrook in their 130-91 win over OKC on March 25. In that game, Westbrook scored just 16 points on a salty 5-of-16 shooting.
Speaking of defense, San Antonio should also be wary of Oklahoma City’s outside shooting, as the Thunder are averaging 10.5 threes over their last five games. San Antonio, however, appears ready to silence OKC’s shooters based on its aforementioned win over the Thunder. In that game, the Spurs allowed just six threes. The Spurs are allowing opponents to hit just 6.8 threes per game, fourth fewest in the NBA.
Tony Parker, who scored 21 points in the most recent meeting with OKC, has seen his performance dip of late. He is putting up just 6.3 points over the Spurs’ last three four games, which is a big step-down from his season average of 14.6 points per game.
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Betting on the Oklahoma City Thunder
Oklahoma City got another triple-double performance from Russell Westbrook on Sunday night. Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough to prevent the team from losing its third-straight game after falling to the Houston Rockets, 115-112.
The Thunder can get back in the win column tonight against the visiting San Antonio team, which has lost nine games in its last 10 visits to Chesapeake Energy Arena.
To do that, Oklahoma City must fix its problematic defense that has allowed its last six opponents to average 111.8 points per game. That’s the worst mark among all NBA teams in the same span. On the season, OKC’s defense is surrendering 101.4 points per game.
Oklahoma’s offense, meanwhile, looks good with Westbrook leading the attack. Westbrook, who collected 40 points, 13 assists, and 11 rebounds in the loss to Houston, enters Tuesday’s contest with averages of 27.7 points, 8.7 assists, and 7.3 rebounds per game thus far this season.
Anthony Morrow, on the other hand, has been smoking of late. The six-year veteran, who scored 22 points in the Spurs game, has averaged 18 points on 55.4 percent shooting over OKC’s past five games.
The over is 5-1 in OKC’s last six games.
Writer’s Prediction
San Antonio wins, 115-105.
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