San Antonio at Oklahoma City
Time: 7 PM CT (TNT)
Spread: SAS -2.5
Total: 210.5
Betting odds c/o 5dimes
The San Antonio Spurs are possessors of the league’s longest win streak at nine games, and will look to extend the streak to double-digits as it travels to face the Oklahoma City Thunder as 2.5 point favorites at 7 PM (CT) on TNT. The Spurs are 27-7 on the road this season and trail No. 1 seeded Golden State by just 1.5 games in the standings now.
San Antonio has simply been doing San Antonio things. The Spurs have adjusted its starting lineup to feature Dewayne Dedmon now, which renders Pau Gasol a lethal poison to opposing second units. The fact remains, that with Gregg Popovich running such an effective system, the combinations that can take the court for his team number nearly infinite. The Spurs are the deepest team by virtue of its coaching, as Pop gets the maximum from a number of guys whose worth would doubtfully as great on other NBA clubs (Boris Diaw is proving this with his mediocrity in Utah right now).
Patty Mills will be a free agent this offseason and Tony Parker is continuing to age and decline, which will mean the Spurs will have some decisions to make. It is certainly too early to hand the reigns off full-time to rookie Dejounte Murray, but he has plenty of talent and waits in the wings as a potential solution at point guard. The Spurs still can go 12-deep with its roster, getting strong play from the likes of Murray (who has appeared in just 36 games) or Davis Bertans, both relative unknowns who have played good in stretches this season.
Swingman Jonathon Simmons also is something of a LeBron James-lite, and though his six points and two boards per game look humble, the eye test with Simmons reveals a guy who could eventually be an elite defender and key rotation player. David Lee has revitalized himself in San Antonio to some degree, and when he is called upon he has proven effective in averaging seven points and five rebounds per game in just 18 minutes of play.
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The Spurs can legitimately keep the machine clicking indefinitely, because, even if Mills goes on to succeed elsewhere, Popovich can coax similar play from plenty of guys throughout the entire Association. That is the beauty of pass-laden offense, because it leads to guys getting such quality shots that everyone is simply playing to be the best version of themselves. While Kawhi Leonard does average 26.3 points per game, no one else on the roster averages more than 17, with LaMarcus Aldridge having taken a preciptious drop since his point-per-game averages while a member of fhe Portland Trail Blazers.
The same applies to Pau Gasol with his 12 points and six boards per game. Numbers tend to normalize on the Spurs, but the team averages 106.7 points per game and has 10 players averaging five points per game or better. That is depth.
OKC has lost four-straight games and now sits No. 7 in the West having fallen behind the Memphis Grizzlies. That is not a good position, as it would set up a much less favorable first round matchup with the San Antonio Spurs. The Thunder ideally match up a lot better with the Houston Rockets. Neither team presents a great chance for Russell Westbrook and company advancing the way the team is playing now, however.
The Thunder are coming off losses to Portland (twice), Phoenix and Dallas, and this four-game skid comes after what was a four-game win streak. Consistency is a major issue. Part of the problem may trace to the lack of offensive assertiveness of starting center Steven Adams. His play has fallen off recently, and OKC is a much better team when Adams is aggressive and looking for his shot. The Thunder are 17-22 when Adams attempts less than 10 field goals, and over the last four losses he has attempted 10 or more just once.
Adams had a good game with 19 points and five rebounds against the Dallas Mavericks, but with his offense being so limited and having taken just one shot in 29 minutes against the Portland Trail Blazers (who boast a horrible defensive frontcourt), the Thunder may have to look to using Enes Kanter far more, even if it is in tandem with Adams.
Kanter is No. 3 on the team in scoring behind Westbrook and Victor Oladipo, and over his past 10 games he is averaging 13.6 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. Kanter has had two double-doubles in the past five games, and the Thunder need the fifth year center to provide the second unit with the bulk of its offense. He averages 14.3 points per game on the season in just 21.7 minutes per game, and with Adams just not being aggressive enough, Kanter may be the key to OKC doing any sort of upset work in the 2017 playoffs.
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