Tonight in the NBA I will have a Free Pick in the game between the San Antonio Spurs and the Oklahoma City Thunder, which will take place at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The game has a start time of 8:00 pm (Eastern) and will be televised on TNT. Current Vegas betting odds have the Spurs listed as 5.5 point favorites, while the total is set at 216.
Analysis: The San Antonio Spurs come in hot as they have won 17 of their last 20 games, which includes a very easy 15 point home win over Golden State on Sunday. The Spurs are putting it together at the right time and are starting to win easily as they have outscored their opponents by 18.0 ppg in their last 17 wins, with 16 of the 17 wins coming by DD. This may be the best team in the West right now. San Antonio has gone 10-1 ATS in their last 11 when their opponent allows 100 points or more in their previous game, but just 2-8 ATS in their last 10 road games vs. a team with a home winning % of greater than .600. The Spurs have been a good offensive team this year, ranking 9th in scoring (102.9 ppg), 4th in shooting, 5th in 3 point shooting and 5th in FT shooting. Defensively the Spurs have been solid, ranking 3rd in points allowed (96.9 ppg), 11th in defensive FG% and 25th in 3 point defense.
The Oklahoma City Thunder are struggling right now as they come in just 1-5 in their last 6 games, which includes a tough 3 point home loss to Houston on Sunday. That loss now drops the Thunder to 42-35 on the year overall, and has shrunk their lead over New Orleans for the 8th playoff spot in the West to just a half a game. The Thunder are in real danger of missing the playoffs. OKC has gone 9-1 ATS at home in the series, but they are also 8-18-1 ATS in their last 27 games following a ATS loss. The Thunder have been a good offensive team this year, ranking 6th in scoring (103.6 ppg), 18th in shooting, 20th in 3 point shooting and 11th in FT shooting. Defensively the Thunder have been below average this year, ranking 21st in points allowed (101.4 ppg), 5th in defensive FG% and 7th in 3 point defense.
Pick: I am going with the Thunder in this one. The Spurs have been rocking teams left an right of late, but they are off perhaps their biggest win of the year over Golden State and will now be taking on an Oklahoma City squad that is in desperation mode as they are on the brink of missing the playoffs. This is a bad spot for the Spurs and we also note that they are 1-9 ATS their last 10 games played in this building. Look for the Thunder to play hard and come up with the big road win here.
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