The Oklahoma City Thunder and the San Antonio Spurs are set to face each other in game 1 of their best-of seven series Monday night, which will take place in San Antonio. The game has a start time of 9:00 pm (Eastern) and will be televised on TNT. Current odds have the Spurs listed as 5.5 point favorites, while the total sits at 209.5.
Stat Packs: The Oklahoma City thunder got here by taking out Golden State and then the Clippers in what was a weird and draining series. They will now take on a Spurs team that they won 5 in a row vs, including all 4 meetings this year. Oklahoma City has been solid offensively in the playoffs, averaging 104.5 ppg on 45.3% shooting. In the post-season Kevin Durant has led the offense with an average of 31.4 ppg, while Russell Westbrook is second, at 26.6 ppg. Serge Ibaka (12.2 ppg) and Reggie Jackson (10.7 ppg) round out the double digit scorers on the team. Durant leads the team rebounding (9.5), while Westbrook leads them in assists (8.4) and Serge Ibaka has collected 2.2 blocks per game. Defensively the Thunder allowed just 99.8 ppg on 43.6% shooting during the regular season and in the playoffs they have allowed 101.2 ppg on 43.3% shooting.
The San Antonio Spurs had the best record in all of the NBA this year and after a 7 game fight with Dallas in the opening round, they then flexed their muscles taking care of the Portland Trailblazers in just 5 games. The Spurs have gone 37-10 on their home floor this year, but did lose both games they played vs the Thunder here. The Spurs are averaging 105.5 ppg on 49.3% shooting in the playoffs and are led by Tony Parker, who is averaging 19.3 ppg so far. Tim Duncan (15.8 ppg), Manu Ginobili (13.9 ppg) and Kawhi Leonard (14.0 ppg) have also averaged in double figures for the Spurs. Defensively this was a solid team this year, ranking 6th in points allowed (97.6 ppg) and 8th in defensive FG% defense (44.4%), and in the playoffs they have allowed just 98.8 ppg on 43.7% shooting.
Pick: I like the Under in this game. These teams played twice in San Antonio this year and both games were high scoring, but I see this one a bit different as the Spurs come in playing great defense and the Thunder are weakened offensively with the loss of Ibaka, plus the Thunder do have the ability to play solid defense as they have allowed just 100.6 ppg on the road this year. Yes the will miss the Presence of Ibaka on defense, but I still feel they can get the job done without him. The Spurs have allowed just 97.1 ppg on their home floor this year and just 95.4 ppg in their last 5 games overall. The Under is 6-2 the last 8 meetings and the Under is 14-5 when the Spurs face a team that put up 100+ points in their previous game. I say this one is played under 205 points.
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