The Oklahoma City Thunder put 127 points on the board Thursday, and Durant & Co. will be anxious to showcase there offensive talents in LA after losing to the Lakers at home earlier.
Sunday night’s NBA card is headlined by the Oklahoma City Thunder visiting the LA Lakers as 10-point underdogs.
The teams met back on November 3 in Oklahoma with LA winning in overtime 101-98 and while it could be another close battle tonight, the amount of scoring should also be more this time. Take the Over 198, as it is not only likely to close higher than this but also cash at the betting windows well before the final buzzer.
Last season, almost any game was a revenge spot for the Thunder thanks to so many losses, but with a 7-6 record the team I referred to last year as the “Oklahoma City Disasters” is for real. With a loss from the Lakers still in their minds from several weeks ago, you can count on the Thunder to do all they can in keeping tonight’s battle close and connecting on as many baskets as they can.
Fresh off a 127-108 victory at home on Friday night against the Washington Wizards, the Thunder are looking to put big points up again on the league’s biggest stage at the Staples Center tonight. Five players reached double figures on Friday, and leading the way was Kevin Durant with 35 points.
While we all know the defense of the Lakers will be a taller order, hitting 11 out of 21 three pointers against the Wizards could show more signs of a scoring threat tonight than the last battle against the Lakers for the Thunder.
While taking ten points with the Thunder tonight can look appealing with them winning three of their last four road games and being revenge-minded enough to bring their biggest “A” game of the season, the defense could be a concern in facing a loaded Lakers lineup.
In the prior matchup against LA, the Thunder allowed 52% shooting from the field and allowed the Lakers to edge them out in the fourth quarter and overtime because of it. LA also turned the ball over 25 times that night and with Lakers coach Phi Jackson lashing out at the team in today’s LA Daily News about averaging too many turnovers, there should a lot less of them tonight.
As with the Thunder, the Lakers also come into tonight’s matchup off of some recent high scoring efforts. The return of Pau Gasol to the LA lineup on Thursday provided some spark as he lead the Lakers in scoring with 24 points in a 108-93 victory against the Chicago Bulls. Adding Gasol back made the rest of the team step it up a notch as five other Lakers put up double figures, including Lamar Odom from the bench with 11 points.
Gasol also grabbed 13 rebounds in his return on Thursday, including seven of them from the offensive glass. With this effort coming against one of the NBA’s best defenses in the Bulls, it may only get easier against the Thunder tonight and LA could be in a spot to really pour it on.
Some second chance opportunities resulting in some big unanswered runs could push this over the total quicker than you can say the word “questionable” – which is Andrew Bynum’s status for tonight.
Bynum has missed some practice thanks to an ankle injury but according to the LA Daily News, he has told Phil Jackson that he intends on playing tonight. Even if he does miss the game or comes into itat less than a hundred percent, it may open things up for up for the rest of the squad to put bigger numbers up and also possibly allow a few easier baskets in the paint by the Thunder.
The total opened for tonight’s matchup at 198 on the board of Bookmaker and several other sportsbooks followed suit at the same number. At press time, sportsbooks have taken the game off the board as they await the status of Bynum since this may affect how gamblers bet the spread and total. Remember that Bynum missed a lot of games over the course of the last two seasons and that LA can be a different team at times without him.
I will still be backing the Over whether he is in the lineup or not, and feel most bettors will be going with the Lakers and over here considering it is the last one on the board tonight. Keep an eye on a line service like SBRodds.com for when the total comes back on the board and take the over early.
Sunday starts with another high scoring matchup
While I am counting on some big points in the Sunday night finale this evening, the day’s card starts with an early 12:30pm ET tip time as the Orlando Magic visit the Toronto Raptors. The total for this game opened at 210 and has since gone down a point to 209 at press time.
These two teams met several weeks ago back on November 1 in Orlando and it was a lights out shooting fest with the Magic winning 125-116. The easily gone over total closed at 200 that day and early bettors have felt raising it about 10 points for today’s rematch was too much. I am in disagreement with the early steam and see no reason to not consider the over again even at a higher number of 209 or 210.
Although the Magic have improved on defense since the start of the year and have allowed an average of only 94 points a game this season, they bring some of their own shooters who should be able to score at will today. Magic center Dwight Howard leads the NBA in shooting with a 66% field goal percentage thanks to his dunks and should have it easy putting up numbers in the paint against the Raptors.
Both teams also shot a combined stellar 27 for 49 from three point land in their prior matchup and we should see the same connections from long range today. Eight of the top 40 three point shooters in the league are represented on these squads so it is not a case of only relying on one or two superstars to carry the shooting and possibly having an off day.
Toronto brings one of the best highest scoring offenses in the league to the court putting up 107 points a game on average and has a defense that allows a lot of running and gunning in their games with allowing an average of 108 points a game. It is no surprise that the Raptors have generally had some very high totals put on their games this season and still had no problem cashing the over more often than not.
Last edited by SBR Jonelyn; 04-10-15 at 12:00 PM.
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Gotta agree with lakerboy...with Pau back this becomes a better defensive team...and I look at this as a revenge game for the Lakers. They were missing Gasol and Bynum in that one, and starters all had to play mid-forties minutes. Lakers will have a how-dare-you attitude...won't lay this many...but I like the OKC team total under 95.
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Oklahoma City Thunder, Los Angeles Lakers Over 198 Sunday night
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