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Don’t count the San Antonio Spurs out of the Western Conference race. While other clubs stacked their roster to keep pace with the defending champions Warriors, the Spurs didn’t make a huge offseason transaction, but they return the core group that led them to 61 wins and the Western Conference Finals last year. The Spurs also expect to have Kawhi Leonard back in the lineup sooner rather than later, which will make the Spurs a tough out for the Miami Heat.
Don’t miss the hardwood action from American Airlines Arena at 8 p.m. ET on Wednesday, October 25, 2017. Catch every moment of the game live on ESPN. We’ll have NBA opening odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the NBA Wednesday schedule.
Odds Analysis
Following Monday’s game with Toronto, the Spurs embark on a four-game road trip in six days beginning with their clash in Miami. The league started the season a week earlier in order to eliminate more of the back-to-backs, but San Antonio will get one at the end of this trip. The Spurs opened the road portion of their schedule with a win in Chicago, but failed to cover the 10.5-point line.
The Heat are looking at a home-heavy schedule at the beginning of the year and it would behoove them to take advantage of it. They won their home opener, knocking off Indiana 112-108, but allowed a big lead to slip away and couldn’t cover the 9.5-point spread. The line won’t be as high against the Spurs and will be even slimmer if Leonard makes his return to the lineup.
Key Injuries
The Spurs opened the season with a pair of victories despite Leonard being sidelined with a quad injury. The hope is that Kawhi is able to get on the court during this four-game road trip, but the club is going to be cautious with its superstar. And they can afford to be after jumping out to a fast start to the year with others picking up the slack. But the Spurs will go only as far as Leonard can take them. We saw that last season. The Spurs were leading the Warriors in Game 1 of the West Finals when Leonard was shelved with an ankle injury. Not that San Antonio would have won the series, but it sure would have been much closer if he was able to play. Leonard hasn’t played in a meaningful game since that one in Oakland.
Hassan Whiteside has been shelved for the Heat, taking one of the game’s best rim protectors out of the lineup, and injuries have been significant for Miami in the early stages of the year. Whiteside injured his knee in the season opener after scoring 26 points with 22 rebounds. He’s listed as day-to-day. The Heat already lost Rodney McGruder indefinitely with a stress fracture and Dion Waiters has been bothered by ankle problems that forced an early end to his last season.
Player to Watch
With Leonard and Parker out of the lineup, the burden of scoring the basketball has fallen on Aldridge. It hasn’t been the best of times for LA since joining the Spurs as a free agent a few years ago, and his displeasure was brought to the forefront this offseason. Pop and Aldridge had a sit-down to iron things out and the Spurs couldn’t be happier. Pop took a majority of the blame for trying to change Aldridge’s game, and it just didn’t work. Now, there’s a sense of normalcy to LA’s game and he’s thriving.
And it’s worked out well with Leonard and Parker unable to play. Aldridge scored 25 points with 10 rebounds in a season-opening win over Minnesota and added 28 points with 10 boards to help defeat Chicago. He’ll need to produce at a high level to keep the Spurs moving forward while their two stars recover.
Free NBA ATS Picks
San Antonio has had a lot of success over the past two decades and they’ve owned the Heat with nine straight victories over them, including three straight in the 2014 Finals when LeBron and Dwyane Wade were wearing Miami uniforms. There’s a good chance Leonard isn’t ready to play and that will eventually catch up with the Spurs. They were able to knock off Minnesota and Chicago, but the Heat have a little more firepower and playing at the AAC is certainly worth a few points. The Spurs will keep it close, but look for Goran Dragic to reach into his bag of tricks to help the Heat escape with a victory.
NBA Odds: Heat 107, Spurs 103
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