Back to Oklahoma City as the Oklahoma City Thunder try and close it out vs the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 5 of their series. The game is scheduled for a 9:30 pm start time and it will be televised live on TNT. Currently the odds have Oklahoma City favored by 8 points with the total sitting at 192 points for the contest.
Free Analysis: After blowing a golden opportunity to tie up the series on Saturday, the Lakers are now trying to simply prolong their season when they visit Oklahoma City in tonight's Game 5. The Lakers’ road woes have been well-documented this season, as they are just 16-22 (13-24-1 ATS) in away games. The Lakers continued their poor shooting this series by making just 43.0% FG (5-of-18 threes) on Saturday, giving them series marks of 41.0% FG and 30.0% threes. Despite his 25.3 PPG in the series, Lakers SG Kobe Bryant is still not shooting very well at 38.5% FG (1-of-12 threes). But he does have 5.3 RPG, 4.3 APG and is 39-for-44 from the foul line (89%). C Andrew Bynum bounced back from a rough 2-of-13 shooting night in Game 3, and made 9-of-15 FG in Game 4, finishing with 18 points and nine rebounds. But he wasn’t aggressive enough on offense, attempting only two free throws, a huge drop-off from the night before when he was 11-for-12 from the free-thrown line. PF Pau Gasol was criticized by Bryant and others that he wasn’t assertive enough in Game 4, as he did not attempt a single shot in the fourth quarter. Gasol finished with a pedestrian 10 points and five rebounds in 37 minutes of action. SF Metta World Peace had his most productive game with 14 points and six rebounds on Friday, but has made just 13-of-40 shots (32.5%) for the series. Los Angeles hasn’t been good on the road or with just one day’s rest, but it is 21-9 (14-14-2 ATS) coming off an SU loss. Meanwhile, the Thunder are a sparkling 30-7 SU, but a subpar 18-19 ATS in home games this season, while also going 36-17 (24-28-1 ATS) following an SU win. Durant and Westbrook continue to put on a show with 27.3 PPG and 25.0 PPG, respectively, in the series so far. Durant is shooting 54.2% FG and also has 8.3 RPG. Westbrook has made 49% of his shots and also has 6.0 RPG and 4.8 APG. SF James Harden connected on just 6-of-24 shots over his past two games, but has still managed to score 16.5 PPG thanks to 18-of-20 free throws. SF Serge Ibaka and C Kendrick Perkins continue their prowess down low. Ibaka has 9.0 PPG, 4.3 BPG and a +21 rating in the series while Perkins grabbed nine rebounds in Game 4 and has seven blocks in his past two games.
Free Pick: I think I'll take a look at the over in this one. In the two games tat LA these teams put 195 and 203 points on the board and games in LA Should be lower scoring than in games played here, where Thunder home games have averaged a solid 199 ppg. This is also a possible elimination game for the Lakers so you can expect them to throw everything offensively at the Thunder that they can in this one. The Thunder does allow in the Mid 90's at home so I fully expect at least that much from LA in this one. The Thunder have averaged 105.3 ppg at home this year and 99.3 ppg at home in the playoffs, while LA has allowed 99.1 ppg on the road this year, so I would expect the Thunder to eclipse the 100 point mark in this one. This game should approach 200 points.
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