The San Antonio Spurs will get right down to business in their 2012/13 home opener at the AT&T Center as they welcome in the Oklahoma City Thunder in a battle between two teams that last met in the Western Conference Finals just a season ago.
San Antonio Welcomes
Thunder In Bitter Matchup
Tip
off is set for 9:30 PM ET and can be seen live on TNT.
NBA odds makers are giving a slight advantage to the home team in
this one – favoring the Spurs at -2 ½. For bettors looking to make a play on
the total, it is yours to decide to over or under 201 points.
Oklahoma City Thunder
If
the progression continues we should expect the Thunder to win the NBA Title
this season.
In
the 2009/10 campaign they reached the quarterfinals, but were knocked out by
the Lakers in six games. The following year they ran into a Dallas Mavericks
team in the Western Conference Finals that eventually went on to win the
championship. And last season, they proved to be the best in the west; and for
the first time in their franchise history reached the NBA Finals.
However,
they met up with a more determined Miami Heat team that eliminated them in just
five games.
Needless
to say, this NBA season, anything short of winning the Larry O’Brien
Trophy will be considered a disappointment for the Thunder. The NBA Future odds are still favoring the Heat, but Oklahoma is not far behind.
San Antonio Spurs
Guts
without the glory is the best way to summarize the San Antonio Spurs season last year.
Head
Coach Gregg Popovich asked his team to give him some nasty and they delivered,
grinding their way to a 50-win season. The nasty continued throughout the
playoffs, but after jumping out to a 2-0 series lead against the Thunder in the
Western Conference Finals, the gas ran out of the tank for the Spurs as OKC
came roaring back with four straight wins and point spread covers.
Now,
the Spurs will get the chance to avenge their postseason exit by the Thunder,
but will have to do it playing the second game of a back-to-back.
Betting Trends
The
Thunder are 16-5 against the spread in their last 21 games played on Thursday,
but just 1-4 ATS in their last 5 road games.
The
Spurs have covered 23 of their last 30 games played at the AT&T Center, and
40 of their 60 overall.
Head to Head
The
final score has gone over the posted total in 8 of the last 10 contests between
these two, and four of the last five when meeting up in San Antonio.
Prediction
To
be an elite team in this league you need to win on the road; so for a Thunder
team that is much younger and more athletic, and who is also determined to win
the NBA championship this season, playing in a hostile environment shouldn’t
have an effect on their performance.
The Thunder at +2 ½
is the play to make on this game
.