Zachary BonDurant-USA TODAY Sports/Sipa USA – Photo by Icon sport
Oklahoma City Thunder vs Phoenix Suns: A matchup between two contenders in the West
The Phoenix Suns are hosting the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday at Footprint Center.
The Thunder are going for the top seed in the West
The Oklahoma City Thunder are second in the Western Conference with a 41-18 record. After winning six consecutive games, the Thunder lost 132-118 to the San Antonio Spurs in the last one and are now only half a game behind the Minnesota Timberwolves in the West. The Thunder are the best three-point shooting team in the league with 39.6%, ranked second with 50.2% shooting from the field, and third with 121.1 points per game. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is one of the players in the MVP conversation, being ranked second in the league with 31.2 points per game.
The Suns are picking up the pace
The Phoenix Suns are sixth in the Western Conference with a 35-25 record. They have lost 3 of the last 5 games and are coming off a 118-109 loss to the Houston Rockets. The Suns are fourth in the league, shooting 49.4% from the field, and 11th, scoring 117.2 points per game. Kevin Durant leads the Suns with 27.9 points per game, followed by Devin Booker with 27.6.
Betting Trends
The Suns are 1-4 ATS in the last 5 games overall, 3-9 ATS in the last 12 games played in March and 3-7 ATS in the last 10 games as underdogs. The Thunder are 6-1 ATS in the last 7 games overall, 4-1 ATS in the last five games against teams from the Western Conference and 0-6 ATS in the last 6 games played in March.
Prediction and Conclusion
Both teams are coming off unexpected losses to teams from the bottom third of the Western Conference. The Thunder have been among the top two teams in the West for most of the season, and the Suns will try to reach that level. They have everything they need, but sometimes they just lack consistency. This will be the second of back-to-back games for the Suns, who lost to the Rockets last night. It won’t be easy to play the young Thunder team tonight, but Phoenix has won 5 of the last 6 games against OKC and 9 of the last 10 home games overall. The Thunder are -4.5-point favorites in this one, and the Suns will keep the game close and cover the given spread.
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