Oklahoma City Thunder +1
The National Basketball Association sees a pair of Western Conference contenders square off on Friday night. The Oklahoma City Thunder will take on the San Antonio Spurs. The Thunder are 7-7 on the season, which is tied with Memphis for the 8th and final spot in the Western Conference. Oklahoma City has now won three straight games, including a blowout win over the Bulls on Wednesday night. The Thunder are 2-5 on the road in 2017.
The San Antonio Spurs have gone 9-6 to start the season, which is fourth in the Western Conference. The Spurs are coming off a loss on the road at Minnesota Wednesday night, and are 5-5 in their last 10 games. San ANtonio has won 6 out of 8 games at home this season. The San Antonio Spurs come into this game as the favorite. The Spurs are listed at -1 over the Oklahoma City Thunder in this affair on Friday night.
San Antonio Looking to Get Hot Again
The Spurs are still without Kawhi Leonard, and that makes a big difference. Leonard is a NBA Champion, Finals MVP and a two time All Star. The scoring leader from a season ago has yet to play a game this season. He is also their top defender. Taking his place as the leading scorer has been LaMarcus Aldridge with 22 points per game. Aldridge is making just shy of 50% of his shots attempted this season as well.
The Spurs are scoring 101.5 points per game, which is near the bottom of the teams in the National Basketball Association. Defensively, the Spurs are 4th in the league, as they are allowing 98.9 points per game. The Spurs are Top 10 in both rebounding and assists per game. The Spurs are seeking their third straight season of 60+ wins. The Spurs have won 128 regular season games the past two years.
Thunder Looking to Make Way Up Standings
The Oklahoma City Thunder are starting to heat up. After 7 losses in their first 11 games, Oklahoma City has wins over the Clippers, Mavericks and Bulls. In those three games, the Thunder won by 12 points per game. Russell Westbrook scored 21 points and dished out 7 assists in the win over the Bulls, where the starters were not needed most of the second half. The Thunder are led in scoring by Paul George. In his first season since coming over from Indiana, he is scoring 22 points per game.
Westbrook is just behind George in scoring, with 20+ points per game, and also leads with just under 10 assists per game. Westbrook won the Most Valuable Player award a season ago, and led the Thunder to the postseason. Oklahoma City won 47 games, but were downed by the Houston Rockets in the first round of the postseason. The Thunder start a tough road trip, as they will head to New Orleans following this game.
Thunder Down Spurs
The Spurs are the favorite, but the Thunder are our pick to win this game. Until Kawhi Leonard is back, the Spurs do not have the guns to defend Oklahoma City. Look for Oklahoma City to score more points than San Antonio is used to allowing with their offensive threats. The final bet for this game is the Oklahoma City Thunder +1 over the San Antonio Spurs on Friday night.
