Game Preview and Prediction: San Antonio Spurs vs. Oklahoma City Thunder
DeMar DeRozan and the Spurs play the Thunder (Photo via Twitter)
The San Antonio Spurs (4-3) host the Oklahoma City Thunder (3-4) in the AT&T Center on Thursday night. The Spurs are riding a two-game losing streak, including a disheartening loss last time out against the Atlanta Hawks. Conversely, the Thunder have won two straight, against the Orlando Magic and New Orleans Pelicans, respectively.
San Antonio Spurs Starting Lineup
The Thunder start Danilo Gallinari at power forward so it’s likely that Trey Lyles will continue to get the start along with Dejounte Murray, Bryn Forbes, DeMar DeRozan and LaMarcus Aldridge. The Spurs don’t have back-to-back games for more than two weeks, so Murray shouldn’t be forced to sit this or any of the upcoming games.
Oklahoma City Thunder Starting Lineup
OKC will start Chris Paul, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Terrance Ferguson, Steven Adams and Gallinari. The only time the Thunder didn’t start those five players was when Adams missed a pair of games due to injury.
San Antonio Spurs Injury Update
Derrick White is listed as questionable for the game against the Thunder. He’s still dealing with a right glute bruise after Dwight Howard’s hard foul. Considering he returned to the game against the Los Angeles Lakers and played last time out against the Hawks, it’d be a bit surprising if he doesn’t play against the Thunder. If he doesn’t, that could be a sign that the injury is more significant than first believed.
Oklahoma City Thunder Injury Update
It sounds like Mike Muscala will miss the game in San Antonio. He’s dealing with a hand injury. This might be bad news for the Spurs as Muscala has possibly been the worst player in the NBA this season. The other player out for OKC is Andre Roberson — but he hasn’t played since January of 2018 due to multiple knee surgeries.
Spurs vs. Thunder – Key Matchups
Murray and White are unlikely to play together. That means that only one of Paul and Gilgeous-Alexander can be defended by a high-quality defender. For the Spurs to win, they need to make sure the other one doesn’t explode.
Aldridge could have his hands full with the ruggedness that Adams brings to the table. Then again, 56 points say Aldridge can handle it.
Spurs vs. Thunder – Prediction
Oddsmakers have the Spurs favored by 4.5 points and winning by a final score of 108-104. I think the oddsmakers have this game nailed. The Spurs should win due to being at home but their recent play hasn’t given any hints that they’ll be able to do so easily.
San Antonio Spurs – 110
Oklahoma City Thunder – 106