The Portland Trail Blazers (18-25) meet up with the Northwestern Division-rival Oklahoma City Thunder (23-19) at the Chesapeake Energy Arena for a 9 p.m. ET tip-off. We analyze the Trail Blazers-Thunder odds and lines, with NBA betting advice and tips around the matchup.
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Blazers at Thunder: Key injuries
Trail Blazers
- PG Damian Lillard (illness) questionable
- SG C.J. McCollum (ankle) questionable
- SG Gary Trent Jr. (illness) questionable
- PF Skal Labissiere (knee) out
- C Jusuf Nurkic (leg) out
- SG Rodney Hood (Achilles) out
- PF Zach Collins (shoulder) out
Thunder
- C Steven Adams (knee) questionable
- SF Abdel Nader (ankle) out
- SG Andre Roberson (knee) out
Blazers at Thunder: Odds, lines, picks and betting tips
NBA odds courtesy of BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports for a full set of today’s betting odds. Odds last updated at 12:30 p.m. ET.
Prediction
Thunder 110, Blazers 101
Moneyline (ML)
With both teams on the second game of a back-to-back, it’s hard to not lean toward the Thunder (-278) at home. Oklahoma City also has an edge because it doesn’t have to travel for this matchup. The Thunder lost 115-108 at home Friday to the Miami Heat and are slightly better in back-to-backs than the Blazers. The Thunder are 3-3 outright in games with no rest and the Blazers are just 2-4. Furthermore, Oklahoma City is 13-9 straight up at home and should be able to bounce back from consecutive losses against a Portland team that is just 9-15 outright on the road.
All that being said, we are PASSING on the moneyline because a $10 bet on the Thunder to win outright returns a profit of just $3.60.
Line/Against the Spread (ATS)
The edge goes to the Thunder who are a tad healthier than the Blazers at the moment. Lillard was questionable with an illness in the Blazers’ last game. He ended up playing but is still dealing with that. Also, McCollum sprained his ankle in the second quarter of their game against the Dallas Mavericks. Even if Lillard was a 100%, he could very well still struggle against Thunder PG Chris Paul, who’s gotten the better of him throughout their careers.
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The betting stats don’t bode well for a Blazers bet either. They are 16-15-2 against the spread compared to a Thunder team that is 27-15 ATS. Rehashing the back-to-back stuff, Portland has a -2.8 ATS margin of victory in their six games with no rest and the Thunder have an impressive 8.8 ATS margin of victory in their six games with no rest.
BET THUNDER (-6.5, -115).
Over/Under (O/U)
Betting the projected total of 224.5 in the Blazers-Thunder game is a real toss-up in my opinion. Their combined Over/Under record is 41-44 on the season and they each have a 3-3 record in games with no rest. Also, the previous seven Blazers-Thunder games have alternated between Over and Under. PASS.
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