Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports/Sipa USA – Photo by Icon Sport
Oklahoma City Thunder vs Portland Trail Blazers: The Thunder are going for the top of the West
The Portland Trail Blazers are hosting the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday at Moda Center.
Is this the season for the Thunder?
The Oklahoma City Thunder are second in the Western Conference with a 42-19 record. After winning six consecutive games, they lost two of the last three and are coming off a 116-104 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. The Thunder are the best three-point and free-throw shooting team in the league and are ranked second in field-goal percentage. Also, they are fourth in the league, scoring 120.9 points per game. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is second in the league, averaging 31.1 points per game.
Is it tanking time for the Blazers?
The Portland Trail Blazers are 14th in the Western Conference with a 17-43 record. After winning only one game in the month of February, the Blazers won back-to-back games against the Memphis Grizzlies to start this month. They are coming off a 119-114 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Blazers are in the bottom four teams in the league in points per game, field goal and three-point percentage. Anfernee Simons leads the Blazers with 22.7 points per game.
Betting Trends
The Thunder are have won the last 10 games against the Blazers and are 9-2 ATS in the last 11 against them. Oklahoma City is 7-2 ATS in the last 9 games overall, 5-2 ATS in the last 7 games against teams from the Western Conference and 1-7 ATS in the last 8 games played in March. Portland is 3-7 ATS in the last 10 games overall, 0-7 ATS in the last 7 home games and 6-3 ATS in the last 9 home games played on Wednesday.
Prediction and Conclusion
The Oklahoma City Thunder have been playing excellent all season long, and they are just short of reaching the top seed in the Western Conference. They are the best shooting team in the league, and that is a problem for much better teams than the Blazers. Portland has been tanking at this point of the season in the last couple of years, and that will probably be the case this time as well. Regardless of the Blazers’ effort, the Thunder are a much better team and will win this one by covering the -12.5-point spread.
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