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Thunder and Spurs clash Tuesday
By: Zach Cohen - StatFox
Published: 4/6/2015  at  4:54:00 PM
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SAN ANTONIO SPURS (51-26)

at OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER (42-35)

Tip-off: Tuesday, 8:00 p.m. ET
Line: San Antonio -4.5, Total: N/A

The Spurs go for an eighth straight victory when they face the struggling Thunder in Oklahoma City Tuesday.

San Antonio hosted Golden State on Sunday and blew out the Warriors 107-92 as a 6-point home favorite. The Spurs have now won-and-covered in seven straight games and 10 of their past 11. The team has also shot 50% or better from the field in four of its past five contests. The Thunder have played extremely poorly lately, losing 115-112 as 1-point home favorites against the Rockets on Sunday. It was their third straight loss both SU and ATS and they’ve also failed to win SU and ATS in five of their past six as well. The Spurs haven’t played a road game against the Thunder since May 31, 2014, when San Antonio won 112-107 as a 3.5-point underdog. Prior to that loss at home for the Thunder, Oklahoma City had won-and-covered in nine straight games versus San Antonio at Chesapeake Energy Arena. The Spurs are 11-8-1 ATS when playing the second night of a back-to-back this season. The Thunder, meanwhile, are 6-1 ATS when playing as home underdogs this season. C Tiago Splitter (Calf) is out for the Spurs and SF Kevin Durant (Foot), PF Serge Ibaka (Knee), PF Nick Collison (Ankle) and SG Andre Roberson (Ankle) are still out indefinitely or for the season for the Thunder.

Can the Thunder earn a big home victory over the Spurs on Tuesday? For the answer, connect to The Platinum Sheet for all the Expert picks throughout the entire 2014-15 season. In terms of Best Bets, the experts have a huge 59% ATS (199-136-4) record since Jan. 2, led by StatFox Brian who has a lofty 61% ATS (26-17-1) mark in Best Bets since Feb. 4, and is now 57% ATS (65-49-1) in season Best Bets. StatFox Gary has a strong 55% ATS (37-30-1) mark in NBA Best Bets since Jan. 1, and is 54% ATS (62-52-1) this season. StatFox Scott is also sizzling with a 60% ATS record (44-30-1) in Best Bets since Dec. 21, improving his record to 55% ATS (63-51-1) for the season. StatFox Zach is a scorching 64% ATS (43-24-1) in NBA Best Bets since Jan. 2, while StatFox Dave is a robust 63% ATS (31-18) in NBA Best Bets since Jan. 28.

The Spurs are extremely hot as of late and SF Kawhi Leonard (16.3 PPG, 7.3 RPG, 2.3 SPG) has been dominating teams on both sides of the ball. Leonard had 26 points, five boards, three assists and an amazing seven steals against the Warriors last game. He should be able to really dominate a Thunder team that is weak at the small forward position without Kevin Durant. PF Tim Duncan (13.7 PPG, 9.1 RPG, 3.0 APG, 1.9 BPG) had 19 points and seven boards in 24 minutes against Golden State last game. The Thunder are missing their best defender inside with Serge Ibaka out and Duncan is going to need to be aggressive in this one. He is averaging 15.5 PPG and 5.5 RPG in two meetings with Oklahoma City this season and should be able to put up even better numbers on Tuesday. PG Tony Parker (14.5 PPG, 5.0 APG, 2.0 RPG) is going to be the key to this game for the Spurs though. Russell Westbrook has been the most dominant player in the league over the past few months and Parker is going to be faced with the task of guarding him. If he can’t put forth a solid effort on the defensive end then the Spurs will get blown out in this one. Parker will also have to add some offense in this game and he has not done that recently, failing to score in double digits in each of the past three games.

The Thunder have really struggled lately but PG Russell Westbrook (27.7 PPG, 8.7 APG, 7.3 RPG, 2.1 SPG) has not been the reason for that. Westbrook had 40 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds in the loss to Houston on Sunday. He’s going to need to be at his best against San Antonio in order to pull off this upset at home and keep his team on pace for a playoff spot in the Western Conference. SGs Anthony Morrow (10.7 PPG) and Dion Waiters (11.3 PPG, 1.0 SPG) combined for 36 points against Houston last game. The two of them will need to continue to play well offensively because the Thunder are really missing the scoring of their injured players. Morrow is a tremendous outside shooter (44% 3PT) and Waiters knows how to score in a number of ways. They will need to put that on full display against San Antonio on Tuesday. C Enes Kanter (15.2 PPG, 9.0 RPG) has been the most consistent performer offensively outside of Westbrook for this team. Over the past five games, Kanter is averaging 20.8 PPG, 14.0 RPG and 1.2 BPG. He will need to play well defensively in this game and he has not done so over the past few contests. If he is letting his opponents score easily then his work on the offensive end is meaningless.


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