Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Golden State Warriors Betting Preview
Where: Oracle Arena, Oakland, CA
When: Wednesday, January 18, 2017, 10:30 PM ET
Line: Oklahoma City Thunder (+13.5) at Golden State Warriors (-13.5); total: 230.0 – view all NBA lines
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Betting on the Oklahoma City Thunder (25-18)
After the 120-98 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday, we bet that the Oklahoma City Thunder want nothing more than to wrap up their six-game road trip to get back on the right path. They’ve now lost six of their last eight games away from home (3-5 ATS) and will now have the tall order of beating the 35-win Warriors on Wednesday in the fourth bout of their six-game trek.
A huge reason why OKC got manhandled by the Clippers was because of the absence of big man Steven Adams, who sat out Monday’s contest with a concussion. The Thunder, who are currently fourth in the league with 45.5 rebounds per game, lost the battle of the boards to Los Angeles 47-36 without their mustachioed Aussie patrolling the paint.
Adams, the team’s most-efficient scorer with close to a 60 percent field-goal shooting percentage this season, is expected to miss Wednesday’s showdown in Oakland. In turn, Oklahoma City will have to grind out another evening without its starting center and appears in line to have fits keeping up on offense against Golden State, especially with the team’s superstar coming off a rough night as well.
With a team-high 24 points on Monday, Russell Westbrook seemed like the only player driven to win one for his team. However, he only went 7-of-19 from the floor and 3-of-13 in the first half against the Clippers, as he clearly struggled to be his dynamic self without much help from the rest of the roster.
Westbrook could become the first player to average a triple-double in the regular season since Oscar Robertson from five decades ago, and him being the NBA’s top scorer at 30.7 points per game makes his already mind-boggling numbers even more special. But without any solid support from his teammates of late and with a date against the league’s best team on the horizon, we’re not counting on Russ and the gang to break out of their funk on Wednesday night just yet.
Betting on the Golden State Warriors (35-6)
The Golden State Warriors had a dream that on Martin Luther King Day, they’d avenge their one-point, Christmas-Day loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Dr. King might’ve heard their plea indeed, as the Warriors more than exacted sweet revenge this Monday by obliterating the Cavs, 126-91.
Just about every key member of this imposing Golden State team stepped up to the challenge in ending Cleveland’s recent domination over Dub Nation. Here’s a rather long list of what went right for the Warriors (and we merely came up with this list because we’re still in search of the right words to clearly illustrate just how magnificent virtually the entire team performed on Monday):
- Stephen Curry finished with 20 points and 11 assists, knocking in five shots from beyond the arc
- Kevin Durant stuffed his own stat sheet with 21 points, six rebounds, five assists and three blocks
- Draymond Green secured his third triple-double of the season with 11 points, 13 boards and 11 dimes, not to mention five huge blocks
- Klay Thompson led his team with 26 points and hit five shots from deep like his fellow Splash Brother
- Andre Iguodala scored a season-high 14 points on a perfect 5-for-5 field-goal shooting in 25 minutes of action
- Zaza Pachulia – a possible yet peculiar choice to become a first-time All-Star this season – had 13 rebounds
- Shaun Livingston saw just 15 minutes of play off the bench, but tallied 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting
While the Warriors’ explosive offense was in clear display given those facts, the biggest takeaway from the contest would still have to be their fantastic defense, as they limited the Cavs to a dismal 35.2-percent shooting from the floor and a mere 11 assists. And after Monday’s blockbuster clash, the Dubs’ defensive rating became tops in the NBA at 101.2 points allowed per 100 possessions.
With all those praises in mind, expect Golden State to keep up its daunting momentum and form on both ends of the floor this Wednesday versus OKC. For the coup de grâce: The Warriors have won four-straight meetings against the Thunder (SU/ATS), which includes their last three playoff encounters and the 122-96 beat-down from November 3 wherein KD erupted for a season-high 39 points and seven three-pointers against his former team.
Writer’s Prediction
The Warriors (-13.5) continue humiliating their most-heated/hated rivals as they stage another massacre of the Thunder, 121-99.
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