Thunder at Spurs: What Bettors Need to Know
By Covers.com
Oklahoma City Thunder at San Antonio Spurs (-5, 202.5)
THE STORY: Back-to-back wins by the Oklahoma City Thunder have turned the Western Conference finals into a best-of-three affair. Now the San Antonio Spurs look to regain the upper hand in the series when they host Game 5 on Monday night. The Spurs appeared on the verge of a third straight four-game sweep after a dominating effort in Game 2, but the Thunder roared back to crack San Antonio's aura of invincibility – and snap its 20-game winning streak – to deadlock the series.
ABOUT THE THUNDER: Kevin Durant's jaw-dropping fourth quarter, in which he scored 16 consecutive points to single-handedly repel a Spurs comeback, was the lasting imprint of Game 4. Yet the performance of Serge Ibaka and the rest of Oklahoma City's "bigs" made Durant's heroics possible. Ibaka, the league leader in blocked shots, hit all 11 of his shots and scored a career-high 26 points while Perkins had 15 points and nine rebounds after scoring a combined 12 points in the first three games. The duo combined with reserve center Nick Collison to shoot 22 of 25 from the field. “If you did a shooting drill with nobody guarding you, I don't think you could do that,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. All-Star guard Russell Westbrook had a playoff-low seven points.
ABOUT THE SPURS: San Antonio trailed by double digits at halftime in both losses in Oklahoma City, mainly because it managed to score only 17 points in the second quarter of each game. The Spurs did almost everything right in storming back from a 15-point deficit Saturday, getting as close as two points and shooting 65 percent in the fourth quarter, only to be trumped by Durant's virtuoso performance. One positive is that forward Tim Duncan bounced back from a pair of 11-point performances to score 21 in Game 4. Point guard Tony Parker was contained in both games in Oklahoma City, while starting shooting guard Danny Green has struggled mightily in the series, averaging only 5.0 points and going 4 of 21 on 3-point attempts.
TRENDS:
*Spurs are 14-3-1 ATS in their last 18 games following an ATS loss.
*Over is 6-2 in the last eight meetings.
*Over is 8-2 in OKC's last 10 games playing on one day's rest.
*Thunder is 20-6 ATS in its last 26 games as a road dog of 5.0-10.5 points.
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. San Antonio has not lost three consecutive games this season.
2. Ibaka’s 11-for-11 effort tied for the second-best shooting performance without a miss in NBA postseason history, behind only Larry McNeill's 1975 effort.
3. Oklahoma City is aiming to become only the 15th team in NBA history to erase a 2-0 deficit and win a best-of-seven series.
NBA Preview
Thunder @ Spurs (2-2) -- Home teams are now 8-0 in this round of the playoffs, with Spurs losing twice in Oklahoma City last week, so ton of pressure on them to hold serve at home, after their 20-game win streak was snapped. Durant/Ibaka were combined 24-31 from floor in Game 3, with Ibaka 11-11- they're better team when Westbrook distributes ball instead of shooting it. Under is 8-4 in Spurs' playoff games, 4-2 both at home and on road. San Antonio is 5-1 vs spread as home favorite so far in playoffs. Four of six Thunder road playoff games went over.
Armadillosports.com
OKLAHOMA CITY (57 - 22) at SAN ANTONIO (60 - 18)
Top Trends for this game.
OKLAHOMA CITY is 9-18 ATS (-10.8 Units) after scoring 105 points or more this season.
SAN ANTONIO is 50-25 ATS (+22.5 Units) in all games this season.
SAN ANTONIO is 40-18 ATS (+20.2 Units) as a favorite this season.
SAN ANTONIO is 28-9 ATS (+18.1 Units) in home games this season.
SAN ANTONIO is 31-15 ATS (+14.5 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record this season.
SAN ANTONIO is 17-8 ATS (+8.2 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record - 2nd half of the season this season.
SAN ANTONIO is 89-62 ATS (+20.8 Units) in home games versus good offensive teams - scoring 99+ points/game - 2nd half of the season since 1996.
OKLAHOMA CITY is 43-35 ATS (+4.5 Units) in all games this season.
OKLAHOMA CITY is 76-54 ATS (+16.6 Units) in road games over the last 3 seasons.
OKLAHOMA CITY is 47-31 ATS (+12.9 Units) in road games when playing against a team with a winning record over the last 3 seasons.
Head-to-Head Series History
SAN ANTONIO is 8-6 against the spread versus OKLAHOMA CITY over the last 3 seasons
SAN ANTONIO is 10-4 straight up against OKLAHOMA CITY over the last 3 seasons
9 of 13 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons
OKLAHOMA CITY vs. SAN ANTONIO
Oklahoma City is 3-10 SU in its last 13 games when playing San Antonio
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Oklahoma City's last 8 games when playing San Antonio
San Antonio is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against Oklahoma City
San Antonio is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home
Oklahoma City at San Antonio
Oklahoma City: 13-4 Over off a win by 6 points or less
San Antonio: 19-8 ATS when tied in a playoff series
NBA: Streaks, Tips, Notes
Sportspic.com
Oklahoma City Thunder at San Antonio Spurs
Thunder have regained their confidence and swagger after dumping San Antonio 102-82 on Thursday, 109-103 on Saturday to even the best-of-seven Western Conference Finals. But, plenty of reasons for a Spur bounce when the teams hit the hardwood in San Antonio Monday night. The AT&T Center in Alamo City has been a House-of-Horrors for visitors as Spurs are on a 11-0 (10-1 ATS) stretch on home court winning by an average 17.3 points/game and have won 19-of-20 (17-2-1 ATS) in front of the home crowd by 14.8. points/game. San Antonio is also on a smart 4-0 SU/ATS streak off a road loss allowing >105 points, a perfect 6-0 (4-2 ATS) hosting Thunder.