Today on the NBA, we will see the Oklahoma City Thunder travel to take on the Philadelphia 76ers in an exciting contest. The game is scheduled for an 7:00 pm start time and it will be televised live on FS Oklahoma HD (Oklahoma City) and CSN (Philadelphia). Currently the odds for the game have the Thunder favored by 4,5 points, while the totals line is set at 191,5 points. Opening lines had the Thunder favored by 4 points, while the totals line was set at 190 points.
Game Analysis: This isn't a good spot for Oklahoma City, as they will be playing their third game in four night. This is also a back to back road game for them, while the first game of this sequence went to overtime, in a very contested game that left consequences for both teams for the following game, as we saw yesterday. Oklahoma City's defense was super lazy yesterday in Boston and the Celtics simply used the extra space to their advantage and pounded them with 9-17 3pts and 7-15 FG from 16-23 feet, while also shooting 10-13 FG in transition! The Thunder's offense has good at the rim with 20-30 FG, but the ball movement didn't exist and they struggled from the perimeter because of that with 5-15 FG from 16-23 feet and 6-24 3pts!
So, the Thunder has a poor spot for tonight against a good Sixers defense, so I believe Oklahoma City will struggle on offense. However, I also expect them to have a defensive bounce back, as Philadelphia's offense is very far from having the good ball movement on the perimeter that Boston has. That's why Boston is #2 in the league on 16-23 feet shooting with 45.6% FG, while Philadelphia is dead last with 27.9% FG! Unlike Boston, Philadelphia's defense protects very well the basket and so, Oklahoma City won't have easy points like they had yesterday, while Jrue Holiday will defend Russell Westbrook very well. Philadelphia is #1 on defending spot up plays and they will be a tough opponent for the Thunder in a bad spot. The problem for the Sixers is that they lack a big man to dominate on the inside, so they are very dependent from their backcourt with Jrue Holiday and Evan Turner, two players who will be well defended by Thabo Sefolosha and Russell Westbrook tonight. So, Philadelphia will also struggle on offense tonight.
In last season's sole meeting between the two teams, the Thunder beat the 76ers by 92-88 in Philadelphia. Oklahoma City shot just 38.5% FG on the night, while Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook combined to shoot 14-for-38 from the floor. I expect this game to be a low scoring one, with both teams struggling on offense and so, I'll be taking the Under in here.
Free Pick: Take the Under 191,5 in here (Single Dime Play)