Oklahoma City Thunder vs Los Angeles Lakers betting tips and predictions for Wednesday’s NBA game at Paycom Center. After a tough loss at Memphis last night, the Lakers continue their road trip with a game against the OKC Thunder. Read on for all our free predictions and betting tips.
Oklahoma City Thunder
The Thunder are only a half game back on the Lakers in the West standings, so tonight’s game has huge playoff implications for both teams. It hasn’t been a pleasant experience for OKC following the all-star break, they are yet to win a game in 3 tries. Their defense hasn’t been performing all too well during that stretch, they’ve allowed 120+ points in all 3 games so tightening that up would be very beneficial in tonight’s game.
One thing to note ahead of tonight’s game will certainly be the absence of their best player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as he entered health and safety protocols a couple of days ago. Without him this team is going nowhere realistically, so it promises to be an uphill battle here. The Thunder did win the first meeting of the season 133-130, in the game in which LeBron broke the all-time scoring record.
Los Angeles Lakers
LA was able to hold it’s ground for two and a half quarters against the Memphis Grizzlies, but without LeBron James and D’Angelo Russell they just ran out of steam in the end. Anthony Davis had a solid 28 points and 19 rebounds to go along with his 5 blocks, but the Lakers turned the ball over 26 times as a team and it proved to be too costly. Ja Morant exploded for 28 points in the 3rd quarter, as team the Lakers allowed 47 in those 12 minutes of play.
That kind of non-effort defensively won’t go unpunished no matter who the opponent is on the other side. Entering the last 20 games of the regular season, each game now starts to feel like a must-win for the Lakers. Only 1 game separates them from the 10th seed and a play-in tournament spot, with the two teams ahead of them Portland and New Orleans playing each other tonight, a win here would put the Lakers in a good position moving forward.
I’m surprised the Lakers are just 1.5 point favorites here, with the absence of SGA they should have this game under control. The Thunder aren’t equipped to handle a player like Davis on the inside, let’s give the Lakers the benefit of the doubt and back them to win on the road here.
Oklahoma City Thunder vs Los Angeles Lakers Predictions & Odds
Although 263 points were scored in that first meeting of the season between the two teams, tonight’s total of 235.5 points sounds like a lot considering the absences on both teams. LeBron James and D’Angelo Russell account for 45 Laker points, while SGA alone averages over 30 per game for OKC. I can see the Thunder relying way more on defense here as they try to pull off the upset.
They are 11th in the NBA in defensive efficiency, which is really solid for a team that’s only 13th in the standings. Efficiency is not something the Lakers can brag about this season, they are currently in the bottom 10 in most offensive categories. We’ve seen the under land in 6 of their last 7 games. With OKC also cashing on the under in 4 of their last 6, I think backing the under is the way here.
