NBA Betting Preview: San Antonio Spurs vs. Oklahoma City Thunder Game 3 Odds

The Oklahoma City Thunder have been the most inconsistent team in the playoffs this year, looking overmatched one game and playing like potential NBA champions the next.

Game 3 at home on Friday will show bettors if the Thunder can be trusted in consecutive games. They'll enter the matchup as two-point home underdogs against the San Antonio Spurs at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark.

Oklahoma City held on for a 98-97 victory at San Antonio as a 7.5-point road dog in Game 2 on Monday, overcoming a playoff-high 41 points from LaMarcus Aldridge. The Thunder played much better defensively after getting blown out 124-92 in Game 1 as 6.5-point dogs and got a combined 57 points from Russell Westbrook (29) and Kevin Durant (28).

Kawhi Leonard (14 points) and Manu Ginobili (11) were the only other Spurs to score in double figures, while Oklahoma City had five overall.

The Thunder seemed content to let Aldridge score at will against them as long as nobody else did any significant damage offensively. Aldridge scored 38 in Game 1 and has made 33 of 44 shots (75 percent) in the series so far after connecting on 24 shots and totaling 58 points combined in four games during the first round.

Oklahoma City’s biggest challenge in Game 3 might be consistency. The team has covered two straight games just once this postseason, while San Antonio has gone 4-2 against the spread in the playoffs and had won its previous seven games overall dating back to the regular season, according to the Odds Shark NBA Database.

The Spurs have lost at least two in a row once this season with a three-game losing streak between April 7 and April 10 and also failed to cover seven straight around that time.

San Antonio head coach Gregg Popovich has an important lineup decision to make regarding future Hall of Famer Tim Duncan, who appears to be running on fumes at this point.

Duncan had two points on 1-of-8 shooting in Game 2 and has not scored more than eight since April 12, when the Spurs beat the Thunder 102-98 at the end of the regular season. Popovich may be better off starting David West or Boris Diaw instead.