San Antonio Spurs vs. Oklahoma City Thunder NBA Picks, Odds, Predictions 12/12/20

The Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs meet Saturday in preseason NBA action at the AT&T Center.

The Oklahoma City Thunder are coming off a seven-game series loss against the Houston Rockets. The Thunder have a new head coach in Mark Daigneault, and the 35-year-old should be able to relate to a young roster. With no Chris Paul around, it’s going to be fun to see if Shai Gilgeous-Alexander can take another step and lead a team. OKC has 15 players under the age of 25, so it’s fair to say playing time is available across the board and chances for guys to prove themselves as the Thunder continue this rebuild. The preseason will be key for the Thunder and will help answer some questions. Trevor Ariza, Isaiah Moby and Darius Miller are all out indefinitely with injuries. 

The San Antonio Spurs finished 5-3 in the bubble and saw their NBA playoff streak end at 23 seasons. The Spurs are probably the most banged up team in the league entering the preseason, as Lonnie Walker, Keldon Johnson, Quinndary Weatherspoon, Derrick White, Tyler Zeller, Trey Lyles and LaMarcus Aldridge are all dealing with something. All of those banged up players should open up immediate playing time for new draft picks Devin Vassell and Tre Jones. Young players such as Luka Samanic and Drew Eubanks should also get a lot of looks in the preseason. Overall, the Spurs are a veteran team that knows what it needs to do to have a bounce back season, but these injuries piling up don’t help matters.

The Thunder are 1-6 ATS in their last 7 road games and 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games overall. The Spurs are 8-21-1 ATS in their last 30 games as a favorite and 7-21 ATS in their last 28 games as a home favorite. The Thunder are 1-6 ATS in the last 7 meetings in San Antonio. 

The San Antonio Spurs are one of the more banged up teams heading into the preseason, so I’m not looking to get behind them in the favorite role right now. The Oklahoma City Thunder had success last year, but they’re still a young team fighting for respect and there’s playing time on the table. You can also argue OKC is the better team here overall, as the Spurs didn’t look good last season. I can’t turn down the Thunder in the underdog role here.