NBA Basketball
2012-04-11 - LA Clippers at Oklahoma City
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
United States: NBA Basketball
Wednesday 11 April 2012 - Tip Off 8pm ET
1am (British Standard Time)
Preview
The Oklahoma City Thunder (42-15) had the tiniest of wobbles recently when they lost 3 games on the bounce, but a crushing win over the Milwaukee Bucks in their last game leaves them a game ahead of the San Antonio Spurs in the race for the Number 1 seed in the Western Conference, and also 2.5 games behind the Chicago Bulls were the overall best record in the NBA.
Today they face the LA Clippers (34-23) who still have real ambitions of overtaking the LA Lakers in the Pacific Division, who they trail by 1.5 games, but a team that must also be concerned with the fact that they may lost a top 4 seeding in the Western Conference as they lead Memphis by 0.5 games.
Oklahoma City are fuelled by a powerful offense, led by Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, but Scott Brooks will be looking at the way the defense has started to play to really get the juices flowing for a deep run in the Play Offs. The Thunder have held teams 89.5 points per game in the 6 games they have played in this month, while they continue creating turnovers and making blocks.
It won't be easy for the Thunder to maintain their lead in the Western Conference as the LA Clippers come into the game having won 8 of their last 10 games, although beaten at Memphis last time out.
The key to the game could be who dominates the boards, and this was an area that concerned Vinny Del Negro in the Clippers loss to the Grizzlies as they were out-rebounded by 10. The Thunder also grabbed 18 more boards than the Clippers in a game played earlier this season.
Head to Head
Both teams have won their home game so far this season, although the games are split 1-1 against the spread too.
The Clippers have a solid 19-8 record against the spread in the last 27 games in the series.
The underdog is also 8-3 against the spread in the last 11 games in the series.
Oklahoma City are 16-13 against the spread at home this season, LA are 13-13-1 on the road.
Oklahoma City are 28-23 against the spread as the favourite, LA are 9-9 as the underdog.
Other Interesting Trends
Oklahoma City are 5-2 against the spread in their last 7 games as the home favourite.
LA are 1-4 against the spread in their last 5 games as the road underdog given between 5 and 10.5 points.
Prediction
I am going to back the Oklahoma City Thunder to win this game and cover the spread for the following reasons:
First, Oklahoma City are 7-3 against the spread in their games against teams from the Pacific Division, going 5-0 in the last 5.
Second, the Clippers have gone just 3-5 against the spread when playing teams with winning records in the second half of the season.
Third, the Thunder beat the Clippers here by 20 points just three weeks ago and I think they can dominate the boards again today and record a double-digit win tonight. I thought the spread would be 10 points, so feel the 8 points is reasonable.
The Pick :
Oklahoma City 109-97 LA Clippers
