The San Antonio Spurs and the Oklahoma City Thunder will tip off their seasons in a matchup of two of the top contenders in the Western Conference on Wednesday night. The Spurs are coming off a season in which they were the sixth seed in the West and lost in the first round. The Thunder missed the playoffs last year but hope to be healthier this year.
These two teams figure to be two of the top teams in a conference that is just loaded with great teams. Last season the Thunder missed the playoffs due to injuries to their key players but everyone is healthy now and they should be back in the fold this season. New head coach Billy Donovan will make his NBA debut against one of the best coaches in NBA history in Gregg Popovich.
Kevin Durant is back after playing in just 27 games last season due to a broken right foot. He is not expected to have any minute's restrictions and based on his play in the preseason it seems like he will be back in MVP form this season.
Russell Westbrook is coming off an incredible season last year when he had to pick up the slack after Durant got hurt. The Westbrook, Durant combo should be back to full strength this season and you probably won't find a better duo in the league.
For the most part the Thunder's roster looks the same as it did last year so their biggest offseason move was re-signing restricted free agent Enes Kanter. Kanter was acquired midseason last year and played extremely well offensively for the Thunder so they matched the offer sheet he signed with the Portland Trail Blazers. Despite his enormous salary Kanter is expected to come off the bench while Steven Adams gets the start at center.
The Spurs, surprisingly, are the team that looks a little bit different. They still have the usual Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobli combo but they added LaMarcus Aldridge and David West in free agency. The Spurs are expected to run the majority of their offense through Aldridge and Kawhi Leonard as Parker will likely play more of a facilitator role this season.
Leonard was NBA Defensive Player of the Year last season but he missed some time due to injury. Leonard has never played more than 66 games in a season but the Spurs are hoping to have him for a full season and expect him to have a career year as he has really blossomed over the past few seasons.
Duncan moves from power forward to center this year with the addition of Aldridge and it is something he has done before. The past few years Duncan has played the four primarily with Tiago Splitter next to him but Splitter is in Atlanta now. Duncan is more than capable of guarding opposing centers even at age 39 and he should be the steady presence he has been for the 18 seasons.
These two teams should have their share of big games throughout this season and possibly into the postseason but they both want to get off on the right foot this year so this should be a good one.
Spurs projected starting lineup: Tony Parker, Danny Green, Kawhi Leonard, LaMarcus Aldridge, Tim Duncan
Thunder projected starting lineup: Russell Westbrook, Andre Roberson, Kevin Durant, Serge Ibaka, Steven Adams.
The game tips off at 8 P.M. Eastern time and to watch the live broadcast head on over here. For the Spurs radio broadcast go here and for the Thunder radio broadcast go here.
