The Oklahoma City Thunder (44-27) meet the Los Angeles Clippers (40-31) in the Orlando bubble for a 6:30 p.m. ET tip-off. We analyze the Thunder-Clippers’ NBA betting odds and lines, with picks and best bets.
Thunder vs. Clippers: Key injuries
Thunder
- PG Dennis Schroder (personal) out
- SF Luguentz Dort (knee) out
- PG Chris Paul (hand) out
Clippers
- PG Pat Beverley (calf)
- SG Landry Shamet (foot)
- PF Montrezl Harrell (personal) out
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Thunder vs. Clippers: Odds, lines, picks and betting tips
NBA odds courtesy of BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports for a full list. Odds last updated at 1:35 p.m. ET.
Prediction
Thunder 110, Clippers 105
Moneyline (ML)
There’s nothing at stake for these two sides, so I do not know how long we’ll see the starters.
The Clippers (-239) earned the 2-seed in their last game, which was a 124-111 win over the Denver Nuggets, and are slated to play the 7-seed Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the playoffs.
The Thunder (+195) has a few more dings to its starting lineup — nothing major, though, and the players listed on the injury report are expected to be ready for the playoffs. Schroder entered the bubble recently and will be ready to go for Oklahoma City’s first-round series against the Houston Rockets.
In the Thunder’s last game they came back from an 18-point deficit heading into the fourth quarter to beat the Miami Heat, 116-115. Neither team played its starters in the fourth quarter.
Los Angeles is 2-1 in the season series against OKC, but the Thunder has covered two of the games. Both benches are coming in without Sixth Man of the Year candidates, but OKC’s bench is coming in more confident because of their performance versus Miami.
Since the game doesn’t matter to either team, we’re chasing the value and BETTING THUNDER (+195).
New to sports betting? A $50 bet on the Thunder (+195) returns a $92.50 profit if OKC upsets the Clippers.
Line/Against the Spread (ATS)
Of course, we are TAKING THUNDER +6 (-110) against the spread. Again, they’ve covered two of the three games versus the Clippers earlier this season, and OKC has the best ATS record in the NBA (44-27).
We might be in a situation in which we could use the points to get a “backdoor cover” because the Clippers aren’t missing their All-Stars and they are a better team either way.
Put double(ish) your moneyline wager on the spread. Example: $110 bet on the Thunder +6 (-110) returns a $100 profit if OKC wins or loses by five or fewer points. This way you can make some money even if the Thunder cannot pull off the upset.
Another play could be to wait for the official starting lineups to be announced and presumably take a healthier Clippers team first-half spread, then grab the Thunder in the second half.
Over/Under (O/U)
I am going to “lean” toward the Under 224.5 (-110) but ultimately PASS ON THE TOTAL. I’ve whiffed on totals several times in the bubble and prefer to not play them.
The Under is 4-1 in the last five meetings, and their combined Over/Under record is 68-72-2. The counter is the Clippers have played in five consecutive games that have gone Over, and OKC has played in three straight Overs.
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