San Antonio Spurs vs. Oklahoma City Thunder: Odds, Analysis, NBA Betting Pick

Leonard did not talk to the media after the game, which is standard protocol for players who are injured earlier.

SAN ANTONIO – In the process of running down 50 victories for the 18th consecutive season, the San Antonio Spurs first needed to fight through a 28-point deficit on Wednesday to best the Sacramento Kings.

“He’s always evaluating and viewing it from the perspective, ‘What do I need to do, and what does the team need from me?’ And then I think he tries to do it”, Donovan said.

Here are the front-runners for the major six awards in this week’s NBA Award Watch. That took them to 36-29 for the season and into sixth place in the conference, three games behind the fifth-placed Los Angeles Clippers.

A couple of solid days of practice in Miami marked the first concentrated time he’d had to figure things out. The last time the Spurs didn’t post 50 wins was in the strike shortened 1998-99 season when they won 74 percent of their games and took home the National Basketball Association title. “They have some guys that if they get going can hit some shots”. Sacramento lacks size at the small forward position after a series of injuries, trades and transactions.

“We were sharing the ball”, Leonard said. “You see teams do that now”.

The Spurs host Golden State on Saturday.

Though, in the end, Taj Gibson (7) made the most of his first OKC start, as he and Steven Adams (11) bullied San Antonio in the paint.

That’s what coach Fred Hoiberg is undertaking now.

According to Popovich, Kawhi Leonard will be a star in the league for a long time due to his hard working ethic and iron-clad mentality. Two nights before, Westbrook had nine in the entire game to go with a much-talked-about 39 shot attempts. He used his smarts and anticipation to cut off the driver. “I give him 80, we still have to win. What do I have to do right now to help the team right now in this moment”.

The red-hot Kawhi Leonard finished with 19 points, but left the game in the 3rd quarter and did not return. Darren Collision had 17 points and five assists for Sacramento in the loss. The 12-year veteran has career averages of 8.9 and 2.6. San Antonio is 50-13, its third best record after 63 games.

An underrated aspect to management’s desire to remain competitive and make the playoffs is the experience under pressure it would provide to such a young roster.

“In order for us to be great, we’ve got to be good all across the board”, Irving said.

That’s not meaningless for Westbrook’s MVP case.