Thunder looks to even the score in Game 2 against San Antonio

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Oklahoma City did everything right for three quarters in Sunday night’s Game 1 of this best-of-seven series, but became unhinged down the stretch and blew a nine-point lead in a 101-98 loss as a five-point road underdog. The total stayed ‘under’ the 204-point line.

Kevin Durant scored a game-high 27 points with Russell Westbrook and James Harden combined for 36 more, but in the end, the Thunder struggled to make the shots when they had to in the three-point loss. They shot 42.2 percent from the field and 39.1 percent from beyond the arc, but were outscored 39-27 in the all-important fourth quarter and outrebounded 50-43 overall.

San Antonio’s victory was it ninth-straight of the playoffs and 19^th in-a-row overall. The Spurs failed to cover the five pointsbut are still a healthy 15-3-1 against the spread during this impressive run. The total has now stayed ‘under’ in seven of their nine postseason games.

Long-time veterans Tim Duncan and Tony Parker combined for 34 points and 19 rebounds on Sunday night but the real hero of Game 1 was Manu Ginobili. He scored a team-high 26 points and was especially effective in San Antonio’s fourth-quarter run. The Spurs shot 45.8 percent from the floor and went 33.3 percent from three-point range. The only kink in the performance was a 17-for-25 effort from the foul line, but the Spurs were able to compensate for a few of these misses with an aggressive style of defense that conceded very little to their opponent.

Tuesday night’s game present an opportunity for San Antonio to improve upon an 18-1 record both SU and ATS in its last 19 games at home. The total has gone 11-8 during this span of games. The Spurs are averaging 102.3 points a game in the playoffs while holding their opponents to 89.9 points, which is by far the largest margin of victory for any playoff team.

Prediction

San Antonio remains at the top of its game, especially at home. This form will pay off with another SU win at the AT&T Arena on Tuesday night and a 2-0 edge in this series, but stick with the Thunder to keep things close enough to cover with the 5.5 points. San Antonio 104 Oklahoma City 101