The NBA Playoffs continue Monday night in Game 1 between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Oklahoma City Thunder. The NBA Playoff odds for the game have the Thunder favored by 7.5 points. The game is scheduled for a 9:30 pm start time and it will be televised live on TNT. The spread shows that bookmakers have a prediction of a win for the Thunder.
Picks: Oklahoma City is young, has a roster full of talent and might have the league's best scorer in Kevin Durant. We have some major drama going on tonight as Metta World Peace and James Harden will be on the floor together for the first time since the incident. Yes, that incident when World Peace didn't live up to his name and blitzed Harden with a massive elbow and gave him a concussion. The Thunder might be a little rusty at the beginning of the game as they've sit around for about a week after knocking out the defending champion Dallas Mavericks in the first round. The spread for the game is a little surprising considering all the time off for OKC. The Lakers have had to play meaningful games for the past week as they held a 3-1 series lead on the Denver Nuggets, who came back to force a seventh game. The Thunder claim they are over the incident involving World Peace and Harden and just want to get back to the Western Conference Finals, where they were last season. Oklahoma City has the talent and explosive players to win an NBA title, but the question is can they do it this season while their core of guys are still really young? Thunder center Kendrick Perkins went through a bunch of tests and is expected to be a game-time decision tonight, which will be huge for the Thunder. He injured his leg in Game 4 of the team's first round series game. They are going to need him and Darren Collison up front to battle with Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol in the paint. Kobe Bryant's not getting any younger and many believe this is his final chance to get another NBA Championship. We saw in Game 7 that he still can play through his injuries. Expect him to have a big game tonight.
Predictions: We don't like the Thunder giving up as many points in this game, especially since they haven't played in more than a week. The Lakers have been in meaningful games the past week and that's important at this time of year. We are expecting Perkins to play for the Thunder tonight and he'll need to with the two big guys in the middle for the Lakers. If Los Angeles can rebound the ball well and effectively tonight, I think they win the game OUTRIGHT. Sure, the 7.5 points will be nice in pocket as well. Prediction: Lakers 99, Thunder 93
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