Two of the NBA’s better Western teams, in terms of online sports betting, collide as the Portland Trail Blazers visit the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday. These two last met in January, which OKC won despite being four-point underdogs. The Thunder have won three straight against Portland.
The Blazers are 16-10 and are a fringe title contender by NBA betting odds despite dealing with frequent injuries. The Thunder are 11-15 but have upended plenty of favorites and should be taken seriously.
BetUS online sportsbook’s odds favor Portland to win this matchup and I’ll take it. The Blazers are much better on offense and that is the edge here.
Betting Preview
Blazers: Deja Vu
Portland managed to squeak into the playoffs last season despite one of the NBA’s worst defenses. It was thanks to Damian Lillard’s inconceivably nuclear scoring streak. This season is pretty much a remake of last despite the roster changes.
The Blazers made NBA news by acquiring the likes of forwards Robert Covington and Derrick Jones Jr. to solidify their perimeter defense.
The return of C Jusuf Nurkic was also going to help. They were going to be a playoff threat. Then the injuries happened. Nurkic got hurt again and both “RoCo” and DJJ have been disappointing.
Portland is still a potent offense (6th in offensive rating) and can easily go for 120+ points even against elite squads like the Sixers. But as long as their defense remains spotty, their upside will always be limited.
Thunder: Scraping By
On the other end of the spectrum are the Thunder who are the second-worst offense per NBA advanced metrics. This isn’t surprising as the team is young, inexperienced, and limited offensively. They’ll also be without G Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (knee), their leading scorer.
Oklahoma City has gotten by with their defense, which is ranked 14th overall and seventh in the last 10 games. The Thunder limit opponents to just 34.8% from deep (fifth) and rebound effectively, ranking 10th in defensive rebounding percent.
It’s this defensive savvy that has allowed OKC to cover spreads despite being overmatched. In their last seven games, they are 7-1-1 ATS going against the likes of the Lakers (twice), Denver, and Milwaukee – who they beat.
Without SGA, it’s an uphill climb for this team. But they still have a slew of players who can score inside. They rank ninth in the league in percentage of points coming from the paint and can score well enough to give lesser defensive teams a run for their money.
Betting Prediction
The Blazers are my NBA betting pick here despite how well the Thunder have been playing. The Thunder upset the Blazers earlier but SGA had a big performance in that game, leading OKC with 24 points on 8-of-12 shooting.
Without SGA, the Thunder will find it a little harder to score. They’ll need C/F Mike Muscala to have another big game as he hit six threes and finished with 23 points.
The Thunder will be able to keep up with the Blazers thanks to the latter’s lackluster defense. But if this turns into another shootout, the Blazers have the bigger guns proverbially speaking.
Guard CJ McCollum will miss this game like the first one, but Portland will get enough from superstar Damian Lillard (29.2 points per game) and the supporting cast to edge out the Thunder. The small point spread should warrant a bet on Portland.
