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Oklahoma City Thunder will host San Antonio Spurs in Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinals, with the Spurs holding a 2-1 advantage after winning Game 3 at the same venue a few days ago.
OKC was always going to be the underdog in this series, despite them being one of the Top 4 teams in the league. San Antonio is just on another level though. However, Thunder’s road win in Game 2 seemed to make this a potential 7 game series, but San Antonio came right back and won Game 3 in Oklahoma City, taking the confidence away from the Thunder. You could see that in the statements made by OKC players, with Westbrook for example starting to question his own volume of shots.
San Antonio is one of the better teams in the history of basketball right now, despite them flying a bit under the radar because Golden State Warriors have had an even more incredible season. Their depth and chemistry is just on another level and they have been fantastic so far in this playoffs. Spurs simply obliterated Memphis in a first round sweep, blew out OKC as well in Game 1, only to lose by 1 point in Game 2 – but they showed character to bounce right back on the road in Game 3.
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Spurs won Game 1 by 32 points, lost Game 2 at home by 1 point and came back to win Game 3 on the road by 4 points. They have clearly been a better team than the Thunder both in the regular season (despite a 2-2 split in H2H matches) and in this series. In Game 2, three of Spurs’ top four guys had bad / very bad nights, while OKC played an almost perfect game and still barely held on to win.
One thing that could decide this for Spurs is LaMarcus Aldgrige having a monster night. He is a matchup nightmare for OKC and demolished them in the first two games, averaging 40 points on 75% shooting. However, he had an off night for his standards in Game 3, shooting just 8 out of 21 from the field. Considering that OKC has no answer for him, a second “bad” night in a row is unlikely to happen. If Aldrige reverts to dominating the Thunder, this will most likely be a San Antonio win.
For all off OKC’s qualities, a team which has 2 of the Top 5 players in the league on its roster, San Antonio is just too good right now. That`s pretty much what it comes down to, San Antonio is simply the better team, plays better defense and better team ball offense – while also having a weapon like Aldrige for which the Thunder have no answer.
I believe the Spurs will win again on the road and end this series 4-1 when they go back to San Antonio for Game 5. My tip is Spurs to win straight up, as the point spread line is at just -1. Prediction: Oklahoma City Thunder – San Antonio Spurs 100 – 105.
Pick: Spurs
Odds: 1.93 @ 1xBet
Stake: 7
Possible profit: 6.51
Event date: 8 May
See what happens when you’re stubborn 😛
Credit to the Thunder, they started poorly but slowly took control and that huge 4th quarter sealed it. But I`m pretty sure OKC won`t win another game, we`ll see. I feel I just chose the wrong away game, should have bet on Game 3 and on Game 6 (which I probably will).
I was certain we would split again. I think the Spurs win in SA and the Thunder scrape another win in OKC leading to a game 7 where the Spurs will be 70% favorites to qualify. But I trust it’s going to be a really really competitive series till the very end. A lot of things starting to click for OKC at the opportune moment(playoffs).
Time will tell. OKC was very close to be down 1-3 and likely out 1-4. Not to say they did not deserve to win last night, they definitely did, but were 1 quarter away from disaster.
Spurs scraped a win in game 3 as well, so it’s been close. Could really go either way, but Spurs are favorites still.