Spurs vs Thunder NBA Handicapping
The NBA is no country for old men. All around the league 30-plus veterans are limping as they approach the finish line and a playoff season that provides decent rest between games (thanks, TV).
San Antonio Spurs (56-19) at Oklahoma City Thunder (54-20)
Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City
9:30 p.m. EST
Odds: OKC -7.5
O/U: 200 at Bovada
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- Kevin Garnett.
- Kobe Bryant.
- Tim Duncan.
- Danny Granger.
- Amare Stoudemire.
The 82-game grind is tough on old-timers, and with the possible exception of Boston, no team is feeling the pain more than the San Antonio Spurs.
Manu Ginobili (hamstring) is lost for at least the rest of the regular season, Duncan also has a knee issue that caused him to miss time, and swingman Stephen Jackson will be out tonight after an injury to his right ankle. And just for variety, DeJuan Blair is nursing a stomach virus.
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All in a day’s work for the Spurs as they take on the Thunder in Oklahoma City in that rare NBA regular-season game that actually has a little meaning. SA is protecting a 1½-game lead over the Thunder as they both have designs on the top seed and the prize that comes with it – home-court advantage in every playoff round unless and until they run into Miami in the NBA Finals.
The Spurs played last night but had the closest thing to a bye that the NBA has to offer – a home game against the Orlando Magic. San Antonio played with the Magic the way a bored cat plays with a ball of yarn before putting the hammer down late and coming away with a 14-point victory. Gregg Popovich thought so little of Orlando that he sat Tony Parker in anticipation of tonight’s game. No matter.
OKC’s Scott Brooks, meanwhile, makes no bones about the fact that the Thunder will depress the accelerator in trying to get the top seed. [ad-6571516]
“We want to get the best seed possible,” Brooks says. “We’re not going to shy away from that. But once you get in the playoffs, anything can happen. Just because you have the 1 or the 2 seed, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to advance.”
Still, unless the Nuggets or Clippers figure out a way to win playoff games on the road, it’s looking like the Spurs and Thunder will reprise their June 2012 Western Conference final series in a little less than two months.
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The ducks are lined up nicely for OKC in this one, even with Parker rested. The last thing the Spurs need right now is a talented opponent that loves to fly up and down the court, but that’s what they’ll get.
A loss tonight puts OKC is what would appear to be too steep a hole to snag the No. 1 spot, so winning is necessary.
THUNDER 104, SPURS 95.
