Thunder vs. Spurs: 3 Best Bets for Rookie Showcase
The San Antonio Spurs are looking to get a win against a dominant Oklahoma City Thunder team tonight after getting a lesson on how to play by Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday.
The Spurs lost to the Thunder by 36 points earlier in the season. Victor Wembanyama only managed eight points, while rookie Chet Holmgren posted nine. The two are the only players in the race for Rookie of the Year this season, and the seven-footers have been taking the league by storm all season. Fans are hoping for a much more high-powered matchup, and the Spurs are hoping to snag a win against a Western Conference rival.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) and Keldon Johnson (3).
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Charles Bassey and Sidy Cissoko are out for the Spurs, and Tre Jones is questionable. The Thunder only have Olivier Sarr on the injury report, questionable with a hip injury.
Wembanyama lit up the 76ers for 33 points, in what could be his last game on a minutes restriction. If he gets full run of the court against Holmgren and the Thunder, expect him to live up to his promise of “every game is a statement from now on.”
Keep it posted here for our three wildly optimistic bets, powered by the lines at SI Sportsbook.
The Lines
Point spread: Thunder -8.5 (-105)/Spurs +8.5 (-118)
Money line: Thunder (-333)/Spurs (+255)
Over/under: 242.5
Our picks
Safe pick: Victor Wembanyama OVER 23.5 points (-118)
Wembanyama has been wowing as of late, posting 22.8 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 3.3 blocks in his last 13 games, but in all of those games, he never played more than 30 minutes. With his restriction potentially lifted tonight, Wembanyama will want to show the league that they got lucky while he was rehabbing his ankle, and that the ROTY award firmly belongs to him, not the second-year Holmgren. It seems personal that Wembanyama wins the award, and he will come out with guns blazing tonight.
Defense pick: Wembanyama OVER 2.5 blocks (-161)
The Thunder score the fifth-most points in the paint, which means plenty of shots down low for Wembanyama to block. Don’t get us wrong, Holmgren and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander are excellent players who are crafty at the rim, but Wembanyama is the best rim protector in the league. He might get beat a few times tonight, but there’s no way he produces below his season average.
Homer pick: Spurs to win (+255)
The Spurs are by no means favorites, but the Thunder did play Portland last night and will have to travel to Texas. The Thunder is 4-1 in the second half of back-to-backs this season, but the situation always means that they will be at a disadvantage. The Spurs team the Thunder will face off against tonight is very different than the one they saw earlier in the season, and it might shock them just how well the Spurs have been playing, despite the losses.
As a rare bonus bet, if you parlay all these legs together, the odds inflate to +775. A stretch, to be sure, but as long as the Spurs play cohesive basketball, the only far cry from reality is that the Spurs will win.
