The 2019-20 NBA season has not been what the San Antonio Spurs (27-36) were hoping for. Ahead of the league’s restart in July 30, the Spurs are on the verge of ending their 22-year streak of playoff appearances and seem poised for an inevitable rebuild after being one of the heavyweights of the Western Conference for the better part of the last two decades.
However, if there’s one thing the Spurs have done well this season, that is beating the bookmakers. The Spurs currently own a 38-24-1 record in 2019-20 when it comes to reaching the over in total points scored. The Texas-based franchise leads The Association in that department, having accomplished that feat in a whopping 61.3 percent of their games. It comes down to oddsmakers disrespecting the Spurs when setting the NBA lines, throughout the year they have set the number much lower than other teams. The Spurs aren’t known for their offensive explosion, but where oddsmakers set these NBA over under lines made it to easy for the Spurs to hit the over.
San Antonio have barely edged other teams in this department, though. The Miami Heat rank second in this category after reaching the over in 60.9 percent of their games, and the Detroit Pistons are third having done so in 60 percent of their contests. The Houston Rockets, on the other hand, are dead last after beating the bookmakers “only” in 43.8 percent of their contests.
The Spurs are also topping the over/under by +4.9 points on average, another league-best mark. They have a +1.1-point edge over the second-best team in this category, the Washington Wizards, and a +1.4-point lead over the third-placed Atlanta Hawks.
What’s perhaps more surprising about this is the fact that the Spurs currently sit in 10th place in The Association in points scored per game, averaging 113.2 per game. That is the eighth-best mark in the Western Conference. Then, it becomes increasingly clear the Spurs’ Achilles heel has been their defense despite featuring players such as Dejounte Murray and LaMarcus Aldridge in their roster. Aldridge, for what is worth, will miss the remainder of the season through injury.
It’s hard to bet on the Spurs when it comes to reaching the playoffs this season, as they have a daunting task ahead of themselves to accomplish that feat. However, they are one of the best NBA picks in terms of value when it comes to hitting the over/under in their games. At the very least, they are offering entertainment even if the results this season have not gone as expected.
