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Spurs and Thunder star in NBA’s Western Conference Finals: 10 extra dimensions

The clash of the Spurs and Thunder in the NBA’s Western Conference finals may fly a bit under the national radar when it opens Sunday. Here are 10 factors that make this showdown intriguing.

2. 'Small market' cities

  • By Ross Atkin Staff

When it comes to measuring the size of TV markets, San Antonio and Oklahoma City are not in the major leagues. According to Station Index, a broadcasting website, San Antonio is the 37th largest television market in the United States and Oklahoma City the 45th largest. That puts them behind even the quad cities market of South Carolina (Greenville, Spartanburg, Asheville, and Anderson).

Neither San Antonio nor Oklahoma City is represented in any of the other three major North American sports leagues – the NFL, NHL, or Major League Baseball. When NBA-only cities have met in the playoffs before it’s usually been in the first round (San Antonio vs. Memphis last year, for example), so the current San Antonio-Oklahoma City showdown is a rarity – a battle of small-market teams deep in the playoffs.

It is interesting note, however, that Oklahoma City is the state’s largest city, with a population of roughly 580,000. Tulsa is far smaller.

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Mark Sappenfield
Editor

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