NBA Picks & Predictions: Spurs vs. Thunder (Saturday)
The NBA playoffs continue with the Western Conference Finals on Saturday, and it’s a winner-take-all Game 7 for a chance to face the New York Knicks in the NBA Finals. The game can be viewed or streamed on NBC and/or Peacock. Here are our best NBA picks & predictions for Saturday, May 30th.
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Saturday’s Best NBA Picks & Predictions
Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook | All bets are for 1 unit
San Antonio Spurs (+126) at Oklahoma City Thunder (-148) | O/U 212.5 (-106/-114)
The defending NBA champion Thunder have had their hands full with the Spurs, who forced a Game 7 with an emphatic 118-91 Game 6 win at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio on Thursday, cashing as a 3.5-point favorite, while the under (219.5) hit.
The home team has won the past three games outright, while the host has covered in four of the past five contests in the series. The under is 2-1 in the three meetings in San Antonio, including Game 6, while the over is a perfect 3-0 in Oklahoma City so far in this series.
In Game 6, the Spurs shot 47% (41-of-88) from the field and 37% (15-of-41) from 3-point range. The Thunder were just 37% (35-of-94) from the field, while shooting just 25% (10-of-40) from behind the arc. San Antonio was +10 in the rebounding category, while going +8 on assists and +4 on blocks.
The turnovers were even at 13 apiece, while the Spurs led wire-to-wire en route to forcing a Game 7. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had a rather underwhelming game, posting just 15 points on 6-of-18 shooting, including 0-for-5 from downtown. Meanwhile, Victor Wembanyama went for a game-high 28 points with 10 rebounds, four three-pointers, three blocks, two assists and two steals to force the decisive Game 7.
The last time these teams played in Oklahoma City on Tuesday for Game 5, the Thunder shot 48% (40-of-83) from the field, and 44% (14-of-32) from behind the three-point line, while the Spurs shot only 40% (37-of-92) from the field and 29% (12-of-41) from long distance.
Oklahoma City was +7 in rebounding margin and +2 in blocks. The Spurs were +5 in steals and recorded 26 fast-break points, while the Thunder had just nine. Stephon Castle led the way with 24 points, one of three Spurs to score 20+ points. Gilgeous-Alexander had 32 points with nine assists, two steals and a block. Alex Caruso came off the bench for 22 points and four triples.
San Antonio last lost a Game 7 in 2019, falling to the Denver Nuggets in the first round. Prior to that, they lost to the Los Angeles Clippers in Game 7 of the first round in 2015. The last time the Spurs won a Game 7 was in the first round against the Dallas Mavericks in 2014.
San Antonio has lost three of its past four Game 7 appearances. This is San Antonio’s first conference finals Game 7 since 1979, when it fell to the Washington Bullets.
Oklahoma City won a pair of Game 7s last season, topping the Denver Nuggets in the second round and defeating the Indiana Pacers in the NBA Finals. Oklahoma City is 4-2 in their past six Game 7 appearances since 2011, while the Oklahoma City Thunder/Seattle SuperSonics organization is 8-5 all-time in 13 Game 7 showings.
In the past four meetings since a regular-season outing on January 13th, the Thunder are 3-1 straight up (SU) and against the spread (ATS), with the over going 3-0 in the three playoff games with San Antonio. Let’s take the Thunder to get the job done, while going over on the total.
Picks: Thunder -3.5 (-106) & Over 212.5 Points (-106)
Joe Williams is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Joe, check out his archive and follow him @winwithjoe