No. 1 SAN ANTONIO SPURS at No. 2 OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER (Spurs lead series 2-0)

Sportsbook.ag Line & Total: Oklahoma City -4.5 & 206.5
Opening Line & Total: Thunder -3.5 & 206

The Spurs will put their 10-game playoff win streak on the line Thursday night when they visit the Thunder for Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals.

San Antonio has not lost since April 11, reeling off 20 straight wins, and going 16-3-1 ATS in this span. The most recent victory came Tuesday night when the team shot 55.1% from the floor and cruised to a 120-111 win. Despite scoring 111 points, Oklahoma City made just 42.0% FG (40.8% on two-point shots). Spurs PG Tony Parker had an amazing shooting night, going 16-for-21 from the field to finish with 34 points and eight assists.

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The series now shifts to Chesapeake Energy Arena where the Thunder are 31-7 SU and outscoring visitors by 9.8 PPG, but are a mediocre 19-19 ATS at home. San Antonio is 26-11 SU (22-14-1 ATS) on the road this season, including nine straight victories (7-2 ATS) by an average score of 107 to 95. Not only are the Spurs are 8-2 ATS as an underdog of less than 6 points this season, but they haven’t let down after an offensive explosion, going 23-8 ATS (74%) after scoring 105+ points, and 21-7 ATS (75%) after two straight 100-point games.

With Tuesday’s win, San Antonio is now 10-1 (8-3 ATS) in the past 11 meetings with the Thunder, including 5-1 (SU and ATS) at Oklahoma City. Despite the team shooting discrepancies in Game 2, the Thunder were able to win the points in the paint (46-42), which was a big difference from Game 1 when the Spurs held a 50-26 points-in-the-paint advantage. Oklahoma City nearly matched San Antonio in rebounding (41-40), with twice as many offensive boards (16) as San Antonio (8), and tallied seven more steals (10 to 3). The Thunder also had 26 fast-break points and held the Spurs to a mere 10 points on the fast break.

Parker’s huge Game 2 boosted his playoff averages to 20.5 PPG (47% FG) and 7.1 APG in 10 games. SG Manu Ginobili shot just 40.0% FG in the first two rounds of these playoffs, but he has caught fire against the Thunder, scoring 23.0 PPG on 60% FG (15-of-25) and 4-of-10 threes. He’s also produced 3.5 APG and has made 12-of-13 free throws this series. PF Tim Duncan had a woeful shooting night in Game 2, going 2-of-11 from the floor, but he contributed greatly in other areas with 12 rebounds, six assists and four blocks. He now has 16.8 PPG, 11.3 RPG and 4.0 APG in his past four games. SG Danny Green played pretty well in Game 2 with 10 points and five rebounds. This was a huge improvement from his scoreless 0-for-6 FG in the series opener. SF Kawhi Leonard also struggled in Game 1 (7 points on 3-of-9 FG), but had a huge bounce-back performance in Game 2 with 18 points (7-of-12 FG) and 10 rebounds. C Tiago Splitter scored eight points in a mere 11 minutes, giving him 17 points in just 24 minutes this series.

The Thunder top three scorers of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden each had 27+ points on Tuesday, combining to make 30-of-54 shots (56%). But the rest of the team scored a total of 23 points on 7-of-34 FG (21%). SG Derek Fisher was the biggest contributor among these bricklayers with a miserable 2-for-11 shooting night, which was a huge dropoff from his 6-for-8 accuracy rate for Game 1. Starting SG Thabo Sefolosha helped keep his team close in Game 1 with a +11 rating, but that fell to minus-10 in Game 2, as he scored just two points in 15 minutes. C Kendrick Perkins was exposed for the poor pick-and-roll defender he is, posting a game-worst minus-14 rating. In 25 minutes of action, Perkins contributed just three points, five rebounds and four turnovers. SF Serge Ibaka led the team with 10 boards and four blocks, but he made just 3-of-11 shots.