The OKC Thunder's next NBA league game will take place at home against the San Antonio Spurs. For both teams, this will be the second night of a back-to-back. The Spurs are at the bottom of the Western Conference, where the Thunder are now ranked third. The past two games were victories for OKC. They'll be trying to maintain this momentum and take a winning record into the playoffs. On the first night of a planned back-to-back, Mike Daigneault's team beat the Kings 112-105 at home.
With three games remaining, their 54th victory of the year placed them one game behind the leaders in the Western Conference. But OKC has a difficult schedule ahead of them, starting with the Bucks and Mavericks after the Spurs arrive. In their three meetings with San Antonio this season, the hosts have prevailed twice. They will win this series 3-1 if they win a third time. Gordon Hayward might not be in this game as well, having missed the one against the Kings. Over their previous three games, the Thunder have averaged 115 points.
On the first night of their back-to-back, the Spurs are also coming off a victory. They won 102-87 away from home against the Grizzlies, led by another impressive performance from Victor Wembanyama. The rookie finished with a game-high 18 points, seven rebounds, and seven blocks. The Spurs had won 20 games this season. They will now aim to surpass the 22-game total from the previous year in their last three games. The last time the Thunder and Greg Popovich's team squared off was in March, when the former won 132-118 at home.
The Spurs come into this game having won five of their previous eight games. They have been playing well lately. They will tie this regular season series at two points if they win here. Additionally, a win will get them closer to climbing out of the bottom spots in the West rankings. Keldon Johnson, Jeremy Sochan, and Devin Vassell were all injured against the Grizzlies and are probably going to be out again. For the past three games, the Spurs have averaged 113 points.
The Thunder are among the league's most potent scoring units, and opponents have had difficulty stopping them when playing at home. On the other hand, they don't have as much power. The Spurs' defensive situation is significantly worse; they let up over 120 points per game while playing away from home. History predicts this game will not repeat itself, since the past two meetings between these two were high-scoring contests.
