NBA: Thunder vs Spurs Predictions
NBA Christmas Day betting action sees the Oklahoma City Thunder taking on the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday December 25 at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas. Cappers Picks provides free NBA handicapping tips all season long.
Thank goodness the Thunder got their stars back so we can enjoy this matchup on Christmas day.
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Oklahoma City Thunder (13-16) vs. San Antonio Spurs (18-11)
Thursday December 25
2:30PM
AT&T Center – San Antonio, TX
ABC
NBA Betting Lines: Spurs -5
NBA Betting Total: OFF as of Dec 24th 7:00pmET
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Note: As of 11pm ET Christmas Eve. Thunder are listing Kevin Durant as out for tomorrow’s game vs the Spurs with a sprained right ankle.
They are making a move but beating the Spurs is always a challenge.
Oklahoma City
The Thunder come into this showcase game off a thriller of a home loss to Portland in overtime.
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OKC has been playing much better since the return to the lineup of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook but they have struggled of late losing 3 of 4.
All of the losses were against good to great teams so it could just be life in the super competitive Western Conference.
This team has formed a defensive identity this season which still seems out of character, especially now that their stars are back.
Kevin Durant got hurt in their loss to Golden State and has not played the last three games with his status questionable.
With him in and out of the lineup Russell Westbook has gone off. He has scored at least 28 points in each of his last 7 games capped by 40 in the OT loss to Portland.
He and Trailblazers PG Damian Lillard had an old fashioned battle as they both dropped 40 points in the contest.
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He is red hot and Parker might be off so lookout.
San Antonio
The Spurs are doing their usual manage the regular season thing this season.
Their record is solid but unspectacular and they are in 4th place in their own division. As it stands they are in 7th place in the West, a spot much lower than they are accustomed to.
Due to the timing of this game we can expect to see all hands on deck for this one. The lone exception is Kawhi Leonard. He has a hand injury and has missed the last few contests as a result.
This is a game where his absence could be felt.
Tony Parker is a marvel. He has not played in every game this season but he is still doing what he does best which is shoot a very high percentage while managing the team effectively.
This season he has been on fire from deep making an amazing 64% of his threes.
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He has missed a lot of time this month but he is not on the injured list and they will need him to play well to beat OKC on Christmas Day.
NBA Handicapping Trends:
- Thunder are 1-7 ATS in their last 8 road games vs. a team with a home winning % of greater than .600.
- Thunder are 1-7 ATS in their last 8 road games vs. a team with a winning home record.
- Under is 4-1 in Thunder last 5 Thursday games.
- Over is 8-0 in Spurs last 8 home games.
- Spurs are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 Thursday games.
- Over is 9-2 in Spurs last 11 overall.
- Under is 4-1 in the last 5 meetings.
- Thunder are 12-5-1 ATS in the last 18 meetings.
NBA Prediction: n/a
I think this will be the best game of the day on Christmas.
4* NBA Score prediction: Oklahoma City 103 – San Antonio 102
Leonard’s absence will be felt so I am going to throw this one to the underdog Thunder as they look to make a statement and begin a run back to the playoffs.
Check out our Updated NBA Betting Odds.
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