NBA Picks and Betting Tips: Oklahoma City Thunder vs San Antonio Spurs

As the Oklahoma City Thunder have once again proven to be a strong force in the Western Conference, they hope to continue their dominance against the up-and-coming San Antonio Spurs team. As OKC has come off a 24-point victory over the Atlanta Hawks, their opponent in the Spurs playing after a nail-biting loss to Houston. This game will be played on October 30th at 7:00 A.M. IST in AT@T Center of San Antonio. Below are our player props, recent performances, key injuries, and betting odds to create a prediction for the game. 

Key Betting Tips & Predictions

1. Oklahoma City Thunder vs San Antonio Spurs Moneyline Pick

As the moneyline for the Oklahoma City Thunder is at -800, they are clear favorites heading into this game and should continue their hot streak. Taking this is key as they will continue winning their moneyline against San Antonio and keep their trend of being one of the best teams to go over it going, after last season. Their star-studded roster that includes Chet Holmgren, Shai-Gilegous Alexander, and Jalen Williams, it will be impossible for the Spurs to continue their shooting from everywhere, while Oklahoma City’s only challenge on defense with be containing Victor Wembanyaba with Devin Vassell most likely out. 

2. Oklahoma City Thunder vs San Antonio Spurs Point Spread Pick

The spread for the Thunder in this game is at -13, while the Spurs are given at +13 during this game. With Oklahoma City having the ability to defend really well now as Chet Holmgren has become a better shot blocker, this unit will take advantage of a old Chris Paul on the other side. As CPIII has really become a much slower jump shooter, Caruso’s job will be much easier, while Shai-Gilegous Alexander can start the transition game. As the Thunder are 3-1 against the spread when they play the Spurs in their past 4 matchups, this should be another great performance from them. 

3. Oklahoma City Thunder vs San Antonio Spurs Over/Under Pick (Total Points)

As the over/under for this game is 221 points, the Oklahoma City Thunder come into this game as a great offensive unit once again. Even though the Spurs might look much weaker as a squad than them, they also have proven to keep growing as a unit together. With the last 4 games having finished not one going below 210, the improvement of both teams as they got a year of experience should make this game even more high scoring. 

Oklahoma City Thunder vs San Antonio Spurs Top Player Props

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander score over 27.5 at 1.87: As the Spurs defense has really struggled to guard many point guards this season, Shai should continue dominating Chris Paul off the dribble. As someone who can really dominate in the paint and from outside, he can also cause huge mismatches that lead him open layups with his pump fake moves. Knowing that he can continue providing and be their main scorer, he will continue having a high percentage with a defender in his face as well.

Victor Wembanyaba score over 24.5 at 1.83: With the Spurs having to rely on Wembanyba’s scoring this game, he will a good one on one matchup with Holmgren. As Holmgren has improved as a defender, Wembanyaba still has the size to score layups over him and can really force him to play an unnatural perimeter position. With Wembanyaba having great length and can switch on Jalen Williams, he will be able to score a lot during this matchup after averaging 20.0 points already. 

Oklahoma City Thunder vs San Antonio Spurs Injury News & Impact

Oklahoma City Thunder Injuries: As the Thunder already are missing a top defender in the middle named Isiash Hartenstien, they will still be without Jaylin Williams, 36.8% from three last year, as one of their best deep shooters. Although it’s not that big of a loss, they will need outside shooters like Alex Caruso to knock in more shots. With this unit missing Kenrich Williams, 39.6% from deep a year ago, their three-point shooting might not be the same as every other game, but players like Luguentz Dort and Jalen Williams can pick up a lot of slack. 

San Antonio Spurs Injuries: The Spurs are still without their top shooting guard Devin Vassell due to a foot injury, his 19.5 points from last season will be a key loss for this San Antonio squad to match OKC’s firepower. Seeing this, they will have to rely more on Harrison Barnes's mid-range game and Victor Wembanayaba has to continue being a great all-around scorer. 

Head-to-Head Trends

As the Thunder have commanded this matchup over the past 4 games, they have a 3-to-1 lead victory over San Antonio. Winning most convincingly each time, their smallest loss was by just 26. With the Spurs just starting to become a better team, it will be a little closer but Oklahoma City will continue to dominate in the scoring department after averaging 127 points during their last four matchups. The Thunder are 3-1 against the spread at this point and should improve on it, while San Antonio is 1-3 during that time. 

Betting Insights & Public Trends

Looking at the public trends, 65.8% of the betters are favoring the Oklahoma City Thunder to win this game against San Antonio. 

Final Prediction

As the Oklahoma City Thunder have really shown great ability to stop San Antonio’s offense, it will be another one of those game with the possible chance that Devin Vassell doesn’t return. Shai-Gilegous Alexander will have a huge advantage over Chris Paul because CPIII has not played defense at the same level that he once could. Seeing that SGA is one of the most athletic do it all guards, he can really affect Paul’s passing lanes too and could knock down a lot of shots over someone like him. As Caruso will be on that end too, he will try to switch on Paul when playing defense and could contain the Spurs from passing it to Victor Wembanyaba. As Chet Holmgren will play a great game against Wemby on both ends, this will be a big matchup throughout. With Luguentz Dort being on Harrison Barnes, he can really slow down the mid-range game and help Jalen Williams by making him guard a weaker shooter like Jeremy Soachan. Although OKC has a way higher chance of controlling this game, the Spurs could keep it close if Zach Collins can play a great role of the bench and Chris Paul get a lot of screens from Wemby to set up pick and rolls.

Our Prediction: The Oklahoma City Thunder win this game at a -13 spread and over 221 points will be scored.