Thunder vs Spurs Betting Odds: Banking a More Competitive Rematch
Will Holmgren vs Wembanyama 2 Be More Watchable This Time?
Thunder Favored by Eight in Rematch
It’s the sequel to what was a rather disappointing first match between Chet Holmgren and Victor Wembanyama. These seven-footers represent the future of the league as “big men” with guard skills. It was a blowout of almost 40 points for the Thunder. And in this rematch, the Thunder vs Spurs betting lines peg Oklahoma City as eight-point favorites. Can the Spurs make this more of a match?
Thunder vs Spurs 
Records: (30-13) vs (8-35)
Date, time:
Location: Frost Bank Center, San Antonio, TX
Streaming: Live Sports Stream
The Rematch: Odds, Trends in Favor of OKC
Chet Holmgren versus Victor Wembanyama was supposed to be the battle of the NBA’s next two biggest stars. But it failed to live up to the hype as Holmgren’s Thunder destroyed Wembanyama’s Spurs 123-87. Now, eight points on the Thunder vs Spurs betting lines does not seem like a lot given how this one turned out.
Playing without rest may also be beneficial to the young Thunder who are 4-2 against the spread (ATS) under these circumstances. The totals have gone ‘over’ in five of these six games thanks to the Thunder’s explosive offense. They average a whopping 130.2 points. The Spurs give up over 128 points at home. This explains the lofty total of 241.5 points.
The Thunder are warmed up and ready to drop 130+ on San Antonio. This behooves bettors to make a high-scoring NBA prediction. And they’d be on the money as Thunder games have gone over the totals in seven of the eight times they were set at 240+.
With Oklahoma City also at full strength, San Antonio will be hard-pressed to stop this team. The Thunder are arguably the best team in the league if we factor in the betting lines. The Oklahoma City has a 68.3% cover rate overall (28-13-1). But as a road favorite, it is only 5-5 ATS. So it may be best to just back this team on the NBA moneyline? It is a perfect 10-0, straight-up when favored by seven points or more.
San Antonio is just 13-13 ATS when given a spread of +7 or more. We cannot overstate its porous defense.
Holmgren vs Wembanyama 2: Who has The Edge?
We saw about 90 seconds of one-on-one action between Holmgren and “Wemby”. Holmgren held his counterpart to 1-of-4 shooting while Wembanyama also held him to 1-of-3. They used to be neck-and-neck for the Rookie of the Year odds. But Wembanyama has run away with it.
“[He’s] running to the bucket and not being so concerned on 3-point shots,” Popovich explained on Wembanyama’s progress. “[He’s] running the floor, being that target. And of course, our team has learned they need to throw those passes.”
Since the Christmas break, Wembanyama has averaged 24.1 points on 52.3% shooting to go with 8.5 boards and 3.6 blocks. In comparison, Holmgren has stayed steady: 17.5 points on 56.8% shooting with 5.7 rebounds and 2.1 blocks. But it’s all just stats. Holmgren is a supporting star on a team headed for the NBA playoffs. Wembanyama is the main star of a lottery favorite.
San Antonio is just 2-6 in Wembanyama’s eight highest-scoring games. But they are 2-2 when he scores 30 or more points. The Thunder vs Spurs betting odds will likely straddle Wembanyama with bogus player prop combos. He’s posted 18 double-doubles for the season with one triple-double. The sharp way to do it is to fade him and bet the ‘under’.
But as far as this game is concerned, we can expect Wembanyama to put up gaudy stats again. The Spurs will need him to be at his best to cover the spread. He went 4-of-15, which was his worst shooting efficiency, in the first game. And uncoincidentally, two of the Spurs’ biggest losses happened during two of his worst performances.
