Big Picture: I understand how good the Spurs are, and I understand that they are 10-0 in the playoffs. I believe (and really hope) they will win it all this year. I also understand that OKC was on the same playing field as San Antonio all year long, and they were 8-1 in the playoffs before they had to play two games on the road against the Spurs. San Antonio is a well oiled machine with all star veterans who won't get rattled on the road, but they still rely on a a lot of youth (Green, Leonard, Neal) and they are not immune to a letdown on the road. OKC is one of the best home court advantages in the NBA.
Matchup: Scotty Brooks finally realized in the 4th quarter of game 2 that he needs to go with smaller lineups. When OKC plays with 4 guards and Ibaka, they can create some serious mismatches for the Spurs (Yes Simmons wrote this yesterday but it was obvious before then). Kendrick Perkins really has no place in this series. They brought traded for him to beat LA, now they need to go athletic against SAN. Kawhi Leonard and Stephen Jackson have been great on Durant, but we all know some of that solid defense will turn into personal fouls in OKC.
Other: For all your conspiracy theorists out there, don't you think the NBA wants this series to go 5-7 games? OKC is loaded with up and coming superstars, they need national exposure and this series is perfect for that. A Spurs sweep would be very boring.
This line opened at OKC -3 and has moved all the way to -4, always a good sign for an OKC backer.
Since 2005, looking at all conference finals, I only see 4 times that the higher seed has begun the series with a 2-0 lead. All four times the lower seed stole game 3 at home.
2007 SAN-UTAH and DET-CLE
2008 LAL-SAN
2010 LAL-PHO
OKC ML -170 means OKC has to win this game 63% of the time to break even. I believe they win this particular game at a rate higher than 63%. I am not calling this a 10 unit lock of the year, but I believe OKC deserves a 5.4 to win 3 unit play in this situation.
Matchup: Scotty Brooks finally realized in the 4th quarter of game 2 that he needs to go with smaller lineups. When OKC plays with 4 guards and Ibaka, they can create some serious mismatches for the Spurs (Yes Simmons wrote this yesterday but it was obvious before then). Kendrick Perkins really has no place in this series. They brought traded for him to beat LA, now they need to go athletic against SAN. Kawhi Leonard and Stephen Jackson have been great on Durant, but we all know some of that solid defense will turn into personal fouls in OKC.
Other: For all your conspiracy theorists out there, don't you think the NBA wants this series to go 5-7 games? OKC is loaded with up and coming superstars, they need national exposure and this series is perfect for that. A Spurs sweep would be very boring.
This line opened at OKC -3 and has moved all the way to -4, always a good sign for an OKC backer.
Since 2005, looking at all conference finals, I only see 4 times that the higher seed has begun the series with a 2-0 lead. All four times the lower seed stole game 3 at home.
2007 SAN-UTAH and DET-CLE
2008 LAL-SAN
2010 LAL-PHO
OKC ML -170 means OKC has to win this game 63% of the time to break even. I believe they win this particular game at a rate higher than 63%. I am not calling this a 10 unit lock of the year, but I believe OKC deserves a 5.4 to win 3 unit play in this situation.