The NBA playoffs have wound their way to the end of the conference finals. The Miami Heat have already punched their ticket to the NBA Finals (for the fourth straight year, no less), while the San Antonio Spurs will have an opportunity to join them on Saturday night. If they can finally find a way to win in Oklahoma City, the Spurs would set up a rematch of last year’s finals matchup, which was a classic. If the Thunder survive, they’ll force a Game 7 and keep their name in the running.
Here’s a closer look at the Game 6 matchup on Saturday night where the Thunder are favored.
Game 6: San Antonio Spurs @ Oklahoma City Thunder
Saturday, 8:35 PM ET
Odds: Oklahoma City -3.5
The Western Conference Finals have been a series that has simultaneously baffled and yet made complete sense. What’s surprising about the series is obviously that every game has been a blowout. The Thunder won by nine points in Game 3, but that was a game Oklahoma City led by more than 20 points and genuinely coasted through in the fourth quarter. Every game has not been much of a fight at all. Teams this good are generally supposed to have a close game at least once through five games of a conference finals series. That’s confusing to a lot of people.
On the other hand, it’s obvious as to why this series has gone the way it’s gone. Home teams have dominated, and the NBA is a league in which playing at home matters more than in hockey or baseball. In the NBA and the NFL, playing at home in the postseason really matters. Oklahoma City was a desperate team at home in Games 3 and 4, when San Antonio took a lead in the series. Now that the Thunder trail in the series and are facing the prospect of elimination, they should be able to win again, also by a large margin.
The Thunder are coming off a ridiculously flat performance where they allowed the Spurs to do whatever they wanted. The key to the Thunder’s wins in Games 3 and 4 was their defense. In Game 5, the Spurs hit 13 three-points and shredded the Thunder. Look for the Thunder to tighten things up on the perimeter and make sure that doesn’t happen again. Speaking of the perimeter, Tony Parker is the key to the Spurs success. He struggled in Games 3 and 4, failing to get to the free throw line even once in those contests. He has been very successful at breaking down the Thunder’s interior at home but duplicating that feat on the road has been more challenging. Expect Westbrook and company to clamp down on him once more, the Spurs to struggle to score and the Thunder to win in blowout fashion. Take them with your NBA picks to win and cover the spread.
Pick: Oklahoma City -3.5
