NBA Thursday night and we will see the Oklahoma City Thunder travel to the Lone Star State to take on the San Antonio Spurs. The game is scheduled for a 9:30 pm start time and it will be televised live on TNT. Currently the odds have San Antonio favored by 2 points with the total sitting at 203.5 points for the contest. Check out Sportsbook Spy to find out what side the Public is taking on all the games.
Free Analysis: After having the summer to stew over losing to LeBron James and the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals, the Oklahoma City Thunder will tip off their 2012-13 season when they visit the San Antonio Spurs tonight. While the Thunder still boast three-time scoring champion Kevin Durant and fellow Olympian Russell Westbrook, they traded James Harden to Houston for Kevin Martin and Jeremy Lamb. Harden's departure was the only ripple in an otherwise quiet offseason for Scott Brooks' club. Kendrick Perkins is expected to log plenty of minutes at center and improve upon a woeful 5.1 points per game - his lowest output since his sophomore season in the league. Guard Thabo Sefolosha and power forward Serge Ibaka will round out the starting lineup for Oklahoma City, which will have a tough road to repeat as Western Conference champions. Harden would've been a free agent at the end of the season and Oklahoma City didn't think it could sign the talented combo guard. That may be true, but with the season about to tip off, there will be a lot of learning on the fly for a team that had legitimate NBA championship hopes.
Despite finishing with the best record in West, the Spurs watched helplessly as Oklahoma City won four straight against them in the conference finals. The veteran Spurs will look to exact a small measure of revenge and feed off Wednesday's 99-95 triumph over New Orleans. The Spurs are 1-0 after that 99-95 road victory over New Orleans Hornets. Tim Duncan was vintage Tim Duncan on Tuesday with 24 points and 11 rebounds. Tony Parker added 23 points and Kawhi Leonard, a great candidate for Most Improved Player this season, chipped in with 19 points and seven rebounds. Ten Spurs saw action, but it was a late 3-pointer by Parker and nine of the last 12 Spurs' points from Duncan that gave San Antonio the victory. Although Tony Parker started his season with a flourish on Wednesday by scoring 23 points, he was simply sensational in a 107-96 victory over Oklahoma City last Feb. 4. The Frenchman scored 42 points and added nine assists in the triumph. Already lost for the Spurs was All-Star guard Manu Ginobili, who is suffering from back spasms and didn't make the trip to New Orleans. His availability for Thursday is undetermined.
The Spurs have won nine of the last 11 regular-season matchups, but the Thunder dispatched San Antonio in six games in last season's Western Conference Finals. Oklahoma City has lost four in a row in San Antonio and 11 of its last 13.
Free Pick: I will look to the Over in this one. The Thunder is a team that loves to run, as they averaged 102.6 ppg last year, including 100 ppg on the road. The Spurs over the last couple years have turned to more of an uptempo team themselves, as they averaged 103.4 ppg overall last year (2nd in the league), including 106.1 ppg at home (tops in the league). I expect both teams to come out and push tempo in this one and that will lead to a lot of points. I look for this one to finish right around 210.
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