The San Antonio Spurs have a bright future. Will it shine in the present? People will find out on Thursday when they host the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals. NBA odds have the Spurs as 3½-point favorites with the total at 219½ points,
The Spurs find themselves down 3-2 in the series, having lost three of the last four games. They were handled big time in Game 5 as the defending NBA champion Thunder made good for those who liked the NBA lines that had them as the favorite.
NBA betting odds will not favor San Antonio winning the next two. They can’t worry about a possible Game 7. They have to take down an OKC team that found its groove as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the way with 32 points. When the reigning two-time NBA MVP and playoffs MVP goes off, the Thunder are tough to beat. They also got double-digit performances from four other players in a total team effort.
What awaits either team is the New York Knicks in the NBA Finals. The Thunder are the No. 1 overall seed in the league after a brilliant regular season. San Antonio had OKC’s number in the regular season and Game 1 of this run, but since then, the scales have tilted to the defending champs.
Victor Wembanyama is the franchise player for San Antonio. He has to be better in Game 6 than he was in Game 5 when he went 4-of-15 from the field, including 0-for-5 from behind the arc. That kind of performance with only six rebounds is not going to be enough for the Spurs to overcome if they hope to cover the NBA odds in Game 6, that see them as favorites. The moneyline has the Spurs at -155 and OKC at +134.
Will this be a close game, or will OKC finish off San Antonio the way the Knicks demolished the Cavaliers in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference Finals? Chances are, this will turn out to be an important lesson for San Antonio as it grows into a title contender. It just might not be ready to deal with what the Thunder have now.
Pick: Oklahoma City +3½ points, +134 moneyline
