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The San Antonio Spurs have always been a contender under head coach Gregg Popovich. San Antonio has made the playoffs in each of his 20 seasons in charge, and has won five NBA championships during that time. Once again, the Spurs are being overlooked at the start of this season after the recent flashy additions that Houston and Oklahoma City made in order to stay competitive in the brutal Western Conference. They will start their season against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Don’t miss the hardwood action from the AT&T Center at 9:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, October 18, 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
Minnesota was the team to watch heading into last season. Observers were expecting big things in Karl-Anthony Towns’ second year in Minneapolis, and the belief was that Andrew Wiggins and Zach LaVine would help this team turn the corner. The Timberwolves even added a well-respected head coach in Tom Thibodeau. However, they won just two more games than they did the season prior and ended up being one of the disappointments of 2016-17.
It was business as usual for San Antonio last season. The Spurs were overlooked all year, but still finished the regular season at 61-21 and knocked both the Grizzles and Rockets out of the playoffs before being swept by the Warriors in the Western Conference Finals.
Player to Watch
San Antonio pretty much brought back its entire team from last season, only adding Rudy Gay for depth. However, there will be a new starting point guard for the Spurs as Tony Parker continues to get older.
The buzz is already growing for Dejounte Murray to have a breakout season. Murray has been tabbed as the starter at point guard this season after taking over for Parker after he was injured in the Rockets series last year.
With all the pressure in the world on him, he played pretty well. He didn’t show particularly well from the floor, but was able to generate a decent amount of offense and he really helped the Spurs with his defense. Murray racked up 16 steals in 11 postseason games despite averaging just 15 minutes a game.
Murray recently signed an extension with the Spurs, and there’s no doubt that Pop will give him significant action this year. There’s even a chance he can be the next great Spur.
Key Additions
Minnesota went all-in with some additions to get the most out of its young talent this offseason. The Timberwolves dealt LaVine to the Bulls in order to acquire Jimmy Butler and Taj Gibson and then went out and signed Jeff Teague and Jamal Crawford.
The addition of Butler and Crawford is huge. Both of these guys can score in bunches and perimeter scoring is something that the Timberwolves lacked last season. Butler especially should benefit from a change in scenery as he was in one of the worst situations in the NBA in Chicago last season.
Teague should help too. He was a very underrated piece of those solid Atlanta teams that were constantly contending in the postseason, and left after the Hawks blew things up this offseason.
Free NBA ATS Picks
Last season, this was a battle of old school versus new school. The recent additions by the Timberwolves changes that dynamic though. Minnesota can be one of the breakout teams in the NBA this season and the Timberwolves may even be able to win a playoff series with the right match-up.
Beating the Spurs at home on opening night is a tough ask though. San Antonio will be ready for Minnesota and Popovich will have something in mind when it comes to the T-Wolves. Don’t forget that the Spurs knocked off the Warriors as underdogs in their season opener last year, and look for a double-digit win here.
NBA Odds: Spurs 107 – Timberwolves 94
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