9* Take San Antonio (#539)

This is a Spurs ‘spot’, regardless of whether DeMar DeRozan suits up for San Antonio or not tonight (listed as doubtful as I write this).  OKC is 0-3 SU at home this year, losing two of those three games by double digit margins to mediocre opposition (New Orleans and Orlando, neither of whom is power rated any higher than San Antonio).  The Thunder are in a classic NBA flat spot, returning home off a long, successful road trip (4-1 SU, all four wins coming as underdogs).  And the betting markets have (over) reacted to their recent success – this is the shortest underdog price for the Thunder in any game they’ve played this season.

San Antonio had their three game winning streak snapped with a bad loss at Minnesota over the weekend; gassed on their fourth game in a six night span.  It was their season low in nearly every offensive stat; most assuredly not a long term problem for this guard oriented squad.  The Spurs statistical profile is mediocre at best, on both ends of the court, which results in ‘too short’ pointspreads like this one.  Greg Popovich’s squad has already beaten the Lakers and the Clippers on this road trip and he’s put extra emphasis on tonight’s game to close out their long road trip in winning fashion.  Short chalk worth laying.  Take the Spurs.