An intriguing five-game slate of Christmas Day competition in the NBA is headlined in part by yet another showdown between the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder. San Antonio has upset the best team in the NBA twice in the past two weeks, but Oklahoma City has home-court advantage this time around.
Let’s dive into my Spurs vs. Thunder predictions.
San Antonio Spurs vs. Oklahoma City Thunder odds
Money line: Spurs +290 / Thunder -370
Spread: Spurs +9.5 (-114) / Thunder -9.5 (-106)
Total: Over 235.5 (-114) / Under 235.5 (-106)
San Antonio Spurs vs. Oklahoma City Thunder best bet #1: Spurs +9.5 (-114)
It looks like a true rivalry is forming in the Western Conference. The sample size is still small, but San Antonio is making a real charge to compete with defending NBA champion Oklahoma City. The Spurs (22-7) are suddenly a mere 3.5 games behind the Thunder (26-4) in the standings. Even more impressive is that San Antonio has owned the regular-season series so far. It pulled off a 111-109 upset in the NBA Cup semifinals and then clobbered OKC 130-110 on Tuesday.
We aren’t even asking the Spurs to win again on Christmas — we’re just asking them to be somewhat competitive. A spread of 9.5 points is one the visitors should cover. They are on a seven-game regular-season winning streak (not counting a loss to New York in the NBA Cup final). San Antonio is 5-2 against the spread in those seven, plus it is 5-1 SU in its last six road games and 4-1 ATS in its last five head-to-head against the Thunder. The Spurs dominated by 20 points earlier this week despite Victor Wembanyama and De’Aaron Fox combining for just 18 points. Taking care of the best team in basketball without your two best players performing well is the sign of something special.
As for Oklahoma City, it lost by 20 points despite Shai Gilgeous-Alexander shooting 14-of-22 from the floor for 33 points. Dating back to their cup semifinal loss to San Antonio, OKC has alternated losses and wins – giving head coach Mark Daigneault’s club a 2-3 record in its past five outings. It’s also worth noting that Ajay Mitchell (concussion), Chet Holmgen (face), and Jaylin Williams (heel) are questionable for Thursday.
San Antonio Spurs vs. Oklahoma City Thunder best player prop bet: Victor Wembanyama Over 17.5 points (-115)
There is no denying that Wembanyama has underwhelmed since returning from a calf injury that sidelined him for 12 games. But the 7’4” center has not logged more than 25 minutes in any of six appearances upon his return. For the biggest game of the season so far (yes, every head-to-head battle between these two teams gets bigger and bigger as San Antonio continues to apply pressure), you have to think Wembanyama is in for more minutes on Thursday. Even in just 21 minutes against OKC in the cup semis, he managed to score 22 points.
The Frenchman also scored 26 points against Atlanta in only 21 minutes of work this past Friday, so it’s not like he is in some kind of huge slump. Getting his points quota all the way down at 17.5 represents great value for a player who really should reach the 20 mark even if his performance isn’t above average.