The sixth of Sunday NBA Week 8 matches is between Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs. The game is set to commence at 12:40pm with the game to be played at AT&T Center. Home team San Antonio Spurs go into the match as the favourites in the market. View our preview and teams for the game between Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs.
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When: 12:40 | Sunday 22/12/2013
Where: AT&T Center, San Antonio, TX
Oklahoma City Thunder $2.09 vs San Antonio Spurs $1.78 at Sportsbet Australia get a $250 FREE BET on this match
Oklahoma City Thunder $2.25 vs San Antonio Spurs $1.66 at Luxbet Australia get a $500 FREE BET on this match
Odds Comparison:
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
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| Oklahoma City Thunder | 2.09 | 2.10 | 2.25 | 2.10 | 2.09 | 2.21 |
| San Antonio Spurs | 1.78 | 1.77 | 1.66 | 1.77 | 1.78 | 1.67 |
Teams:
Oklahoma City Thunder:
| Num | Player |
|---|---|
| 12 | Steven Adams |
| 4 | Nick Collison |
| 35 | Kevin Durant |
| 6 | Derek Fisher |
| 8 | Ryan Gomes |
| 9 | Serge Ibaka |
| 15 | Reggie Jackson |
| 3 | Perry Jones |
| 11 | Jeremy Lamb |
| 5 | Kendrick Perkins |
| 21 | Andre Roberson |
| 25 | Thabo Sefolosha |
| 34 | Hasheem Thabeet |
| 0 | Russell Westbrook |
San Antonio Spurs:
| Num | Player |
|---|---|
| 11 | Jeff Ayres |
| 16 | Aron Baynes |
| 3 | Marco Belinelli |
| 15 | Matt Bonner |
| 25 | Nando De Colo |
| 33 | Boris Diaw |
| 21 | Tim Duncan |
| 20 | Manu Ginobili |
| 4 | Danny Green |
| 5 | Cory Joseph |
| 2 | Kawhi Leonard |
| 8 | Patty Mills |
| 9 | Tony Parker |
| 22 | Tiago Splitter |
Preview:
The San Antonio Spurs have proved to be a dangerous team even if their best players aren’t in the lineup.
They’re even better when at full strength, which is expected to be the case when they try to end the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder’s eight-game winning streak Saturday night in this showdown between two of the top three teams in the Western Conference.
Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker sat out, yet the Spurs still found a way to win 104-102 at Golden State on Thursday.
Duncan and Ginobili were both given the night off to rest as San Antonio (21-5) played its fifth game in seven nights, and Parker was held out for the second straight contest because of a bruised right shin. It’s a strategy coach Gregg Popovich used in the past to much criticism – and a $250,000 fine from the league – though he feels there’s nothing out of the ordinary about it.
“How smart do you have to be to rest guys that are older than dirt?” Popovich said. “Everybody has a different kind of team. I know my team. We’ve been doing this for years. We’ve been saving minutes for Timmy and Manu since the day they got here, and I think it’s prolonged their careers.”
Parker will be re-evaluated before it’s determined if he’ll return Saturday, but Duncan and Ginobili should be back against a team that has given the Spurs problems of late. The Thunder have won three of the last four meetings, including a 94-88 victory on Nov. 27 despite Russell Westbrook going 2 of 16.
Backup Reggie Jackson tied a career high with 23 points, hitting 10 of 14 shots.
That game was in Oklahoma City, however, and the results have been much different in San Antonio. The Spurs have won the last six regular-season meetings at AT&T Center, holding Kevin Durant to 23.0 points per game and Westbrook to 18.5 on 35.8 percent shooting.
They even won the latest at home without Parker, getting a team-high 21 points and 10 boards from Tiago Splitter, whose tip-in with 2.1 seconds left beat the Warriors on Thursday.
San Antonio also got 28 points from Marco Belinelli, 21 and 10 rebounds from Kawhi Leonard and 20 points from Patty Mills – all season highs.
“Every guy stepped up,” Belinelli said.
Leonard has averaged 18.3 points and 9.3 rebounds in his last there games against Oklahoma City, though he’ll have his hands full trying to defend Durant.
Durant leads the NBA in scoring at 28.7 points per game, but he’s really stepped up his efficiency during the Thunder’s winning streak. He’s shooting 57.8 percent – 58.6 from 3-point range – after shooting 45.5 percent overall and 36.4 percent from beyond the arc during Oklahoma City’s first 17 games.
The Thunder are sharing the ball better during the streak as well. They’ve averaged 24.8 assists over the past eight games after recording 20.6 per contest through Dec. 4.
Durant had six of Oklahoma City’s 26 assists and Westbrook 10 in Thursday’s 107-95 win over Chicago.
“If we move the ball like that with the guys we have that create for everybody, create for themselves, it makes it tough on other teams,” Durant said.
The Thunder have enjoyed a big edge on the boards lately against San Antonio, posting a plus-7.6 rebounding margin in the series’ last five games. Serge Ibaka has been the driving force inside, averaging 16.5 points, 13.8 boards and 3.5 blocks in his last four against the Spurs.
Source: www.nba.com
