After posting a franchise-best 68-14 record and winning a championship, the Oklahoma City Thunder matched the second-best mark by going 64-18 during the 2025-26 NBA regular season. If they hope to win their second straight title, they’ll need to get past the team that proved to be their kryptonite this campaign.
The Thunder continue their quest to repeat Monday as they take on the San Antonio Spurs at 8:30 p.m. ET in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals at the Paycom Center. Only six clubs in the West were able to defeat the defending champions this season, and San Antonio accomplished the feat four times.
Oklahoma City, which has swept the Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Lakers this postseason, won 24 of its first 25 games in 2025-26 before losing four of its next six contests. Three of those setbacks came against the Spurs, who finished only two games behind the Thunder in the conference standings with a 62-20 record.
San Antonio knocked off the Portland Trail Blazers in five games and the Minnesota Timberwolves in six to reach the conference finals for the first time since 2017. The franchises met in the postseason six previous times, with the Spurs winning four of the series.
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A date with the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Final is on the line Monday as the Buffalo Sabres host the Montreal Canadiens at 7:30 p.m. ET in Game 7 of their second-round series at KeyBank Center. The Sabres staved off elimination as they rallied from a two-goal deficit and rolled to an 8-3 victory at Montreal on Saturday. Defenseman Rasmus Dahlin recorded a goal and four assists, Tage Thompson netted a tally and set up three others and Jack Quinn scored twice and added an assist as Buffalo went 4-for-5 on the power play.
Monday’s MLB schedule features 14 games, including the opener of a four-game series between the New York Mets (20-26) and Washington Nationals (23-24) at 6:45 p.m. ET at Nationals Park. Washington, which won two of three at New York late last month, had its four-game home winning streak snapped with Sunday’s 7-3 loss to the Baltimore Orioles. The Mets are coming off their fifth win in six contests, a 7-6 comeback victory against the New York Yankees in 10 innings.
Another game on the slate has the Boston Red Sox (19-27) visiting Kauffman Stadium for the opener of a three-game set against the Kansas City Royals (20-27) at 7:40 p.m. ET. The Red Sox were pounded 8-1 by the Atlanta Braves on Sunday for their fifth loss in seven games, while the Royals ended their six-game slide with a 2-0 triumph over the St. Louis Cardinals.
The Thunder are 6.5-point favorites against the Spurs in the latest consensus NBA odds. The Sabres are -120 favorites on the money line over the Canadiens, the Mets are -130 favorites against the Nationals and the Red Sox are -113 favorites against the Royals.
Below is a snapshot of what to watch and bet for Monday, May 18. All times Eastern
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NBA best bets, where to watch
Spurs at Thunder
Time: 8:30 p.m. | Location: Oklahoma City | TV: NBC
SportsLine picks — Model: Under 221.5 (-112) | Expert: Chet Holmgren Over 8.5 rebounds (-108, Mike Barner)
The Thunder lead all teams in scoring this postseason with an average of 121.3 points and the Spurs are third at 116.9 per game. At least 225 combined points were scored in six of Oklahoma’s eight games and six of San Antonio’s 11 contests, including each of its last five. However, only two of the five regular-season meetings between the Thunder and Spurs had a total of 222 or more points, and the SportsLine Projection Model doesn’t see a shootout taking place Monday as the Under hits in well over 64% of its simulations. Oklahoma City’s Chet Holmgren has pulled down at least nine rebounds in each of his last five outings and averaged 9.6 boards at home during the regular season. SportsLine NBA expert Mike Barner (128-89, +2143 on his last 217 NBA player prop picks) likes the center to record nine or more rebounds in the Western Conference Finals opener.
NHL best bets, where to watch
Canadiens at Sabres
Time: 7:30 p.m. | Location: Buffalo | TV: ESPN | Stream: Fubo (Try for free)
SportsLine pick — Model: Over 5.5 (-104)
Only one of Montreal’s seven first-round games had more than five total goals scored, while three of Buffalo’s six contests eclipsed that mark. However, there has been no shortage of offense in this series as the Canadiens and Sabres combined for six or more tallies in five of the first six games. Three of those contests, including the last two, had at least eight goals. The SportsLine Projection Model thinks the Atlantic Division rivals will keep filling the net in Game 7 as its simulations have the Over hitting almost 61% of the time.
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MLB best bets, where to watch
Mets at Nationals
Time: 6:45 p.m. | Location: Washington, D.C. | TV: MLB.TV | Stream: Fubo (Try for free)
SportsLine pick — Model: Nationals ML (+108)
The Mets are riding high after Sunday’s comeback victory against the Yankees in which Tyrone Taylor belted a two-out, three-run homer in the ninth inning to tie the contest and rookie Carson Benge drove in the winning run in the 10th. But they were outscored 19-6 while losing their last two games against the Nationals, and Washington right-hander Jake Irvin tossed 5 1/3 solid innings en route to victory in his most recent start against the Mets last September. The SportsLine Projection Model sees this as a perfect letdown spot for the Mets as the Nationals win in 55% of its simulations.
Red Sox at Royals
Time: 7:40 p.m. | Location: Kansas City. Mo. | TV: MLB.TV | Stream: Fubo (Try for free)
SportsLine pick — Model: Royals +1.5 (-172)
The Red Sox have won just one of their last four games, and that was a one-run victory. Meanwhile, four of Kansas City’s last five losses prior to its triumph on Sunday were decided by a single run. Royals righty Seth Lugo has struggled of late after getting off to a strong start this season, but two of his last three games he started were one-run affairs. The SportsLine Projection Model has taken all of this into account, and its simulations have the Royals covering the run line 76% of the time.
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