NBA
Undefeated Spurs catching points on oddsboards against old friend Kawhi Leonard
Undefeated Spurs catching points on oddsboards against old friend Kawhi Leonard
The Clippers are priced as betting favorites against Kawhi Leonard's former team Thursday night, but early action has come in on San Antonio.
The Clippers lost by 14 points to the Jazz on Wednesday night, but there’s one major caveat: Kawhi Leonard did not play due to “load management.”
He’ll play Thursday against his former team, the San Antonio Spurs, according to Clippers coach Doc Rivers.
The Clippers are priced as betting favorites, but early action has come in on San Antonio.
## Betting info
Spurs (3-0 SU, 0-3 ATS) at Clippers (3-2 SU, 2-3 ATS)
__Line__: Clippers -4.5, 226.5
The line opened Clippers -5, before early movement toward the underdog. Some sportsbooks, in fact, are dealing Clippers -4.
It’s pretty rare to see an undefeated team be so bad against the spread, but that’s what we have in the Spurs right now, albeit in a small sample size. Thursday night in L.A. marks the first road game of the season for the Spurs, who have been asked to cover large spreads in home games against the lowly Knicks and Wizards, as well as the Trail Blazers. Beating Portland is nice, but we’ve yet to see San Antonio in a tough spot.
__Also read__: [NBA futures odds update](https://www.betchicago.com/nba-championship-futures-warriors-spiraling-clippers-on-the-rise)
Going on the road to play the Clippers, who are the favorites to win the NBA title, is about as tough a test a team can get. Leonard is arguably the best player in the NBA, so while the decisive loss to the Jazz has some meaning, take it with a grain of salt.
That said, the rest of the Clippers will be playing in the second night of a back-to-back, while the Spurs are on two full days of rest.
It will be fascinating to see who draws the Leonard assignment on the defensive end for the Spurs. It may end up being DeMar DeRozan, who was famously traded for Leonard in 2018. DeRozan is averaging a team-high 22 points per game this season, but defense has never been his strength, and the Spurs’ other starting wing is 6-foot-2 Bryn Forbes. Look for Rudy Gay to get a lot of run off the San Antonio bench and plenty of possessions guarding Leonard. Point guard Dejounte Murray, who has great positional size, may also get a crack at him.
## Spurs at Clippers betting trends
--The OVER is 3-0 in Spurs games this season.
--San Antonio is 5-2 ATS in its last seven games against the Clippers.
--The total has gone OVER in four of the Spurs’ last five games at the Clippers.
## More NBA betting lines for Thursday
Heat (-7, 216) at Hawks
Nuggets (-4, 224.5) at Pelicans
__More__: [Bulls stumble out of gate](https://www.betchicago.com/bulls-pacers-start-nba-season-2019-20)
2019-10-31T17:05:16.653Z2019-10-31T13:05-04:00