Oklahoma City Thunder vs San Antonio Spurs Full Game Highlights

Oklahoma City Thunder vs San Antonio Spurs Highlights HD Video

Bennett Berry

Highlights Video :

The Oklahoma City Thunder lock horns tonight with a San Antonio Spurs team reeling from consecutive defeats.

Following a 36-9 start, the perennially overachieving Spurs have been recently sidetracked by unheralded New Orleans and Dallas.

A closer look reveals that San Antonio’s sudden inefficiency could be due to the absence of proven contributors Pau Gasol and Jonathon Simmons. While Gasol is expected to miss a large stretch of time with a broken finger, Simmons' status is questionable for tonight's contest.

During the Spurs’ mini-slide, points have come at a premium. San Antonio has averaged just 102 ppg in losses vs. two of the league's better defensive units —albeit, with concurrent sub-par records.

Furthermore, since last experiencing victory, Gregg Popovich’s brigade has been outscored 94-62 in the paint. For a group that relies heavily upon interior scoring, such a pronounced slippage is pernicious in nature.

However, unfortunately, Oklahoma City may be unable to take advantage of San Antonio's low-post futility due to the fractured arm of Enes Kanter.

At the time of his injury, Kanter’s offensive rebounding, and ppg ranked among the league’s reserve elite.

Sans the 24-year-old pivot, OKC surrendered a season-high 19 point, 12 rebound, four-block effort to Tristan Thompson in a humbling 107-91 defeat vs. free-falling Cleveland.

So poor was Oklahoma City’s Sunday performance, that Russell Westbrook’s 24th triple-double of the season made little difference upon the final score.

With Cleveland and San Antonio sustaining fresh defeat to lowly Dallas, a whole Oklahoma City Thunder iteration — versus unstable competition— realistically could’ve continued its since abolished winning streak to end-cap January.

Now, instead, the Thunder must quickly discover ways to compensate for a definitive lack of offense.

OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER (28-20, #6 W.C.) vs. SAN ANTONIO SPURS (36-11, #2 W.C.)

Time: 8:30 PM ET
Venue: AT&T Center, San Antonio, Texas
TV: FS Oklahoma HD, NBA TV

OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER KEYS TO VICTORY

Put Steven Adams to work in the post (preferably via pick and roll)
Victor Oladipo must produce efficient ‘star numbers’
Use speed against San Antonio in the fast break
Lauvergne/Sabonis —or both— must have a big night
Russell Westbrook must be efficent

OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER
Opposite a struggling, yet elite San Antonio squad, Oklahoma City has little margin for error. The ‘twin towers’ lineup (Adams/Kanter) that helped oust the Spurs in last season’s playoffs is unavailable for the teams’ inaugural meeting of the 16-17 campaign.

Additionally, San Antonio’s third-ranked defense will enjoy the added benefit of drawing Oklahoma City during a period of rotational uncertainty.

SAN ANTONIO SPURS
Like Cleveland, San Antonio boasts an exceptional home record. And while the Spurs have floundered of late, the powerhouse collective still boasts MVP candidate Kawhi Leonard, and All-Star snub LaMarcus Aldrige.

These two standouts, along with an infused supporting cast, (role players perform much better in their own arena) should present a stern test for Oklahoma City.

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUPS/INJURY REPORT
The Oklahoma City Thunder will be without Enes Kanter (arm). The San Antonio Spurs list Pau Gasol (hand) as out, and reserve Jonathon Simmons (wrist) as day-to-day.

OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER

Point Guard: Russell Westbrook
Shooting Guard: Victor Oladipo
Small Forward: Andre Roberson
Power Forward: Domantas Sabonis
Center: Steven Adams

SAN ANTONIO SPURS