Oklahoma City Thunder AT Orlando Magic
Feb 25, 2011 at 8 PM EST
Opening Line:  Orlando -5.5
Current Line:  Orlando -6
Opening Total:  207
Current Total:  205
Opening Moneyline: Orl -300 / OKC +250
Current Moneyline:  Orl -260 / OKC +220

The Thunder have needed size for years, and they finally found a way to add it before the trade deadline, dealing their undersized power forward Jeff Green, Nenad Krstic, and a first round pick and bringing in the diminutive Nate Robinson and big man Kendrick Perkins to man the center position.

“We had a unique opportunity to add a proven presence in our front court in acquiring Kendrick,” general manager Sam Presti said. “He will help anchor our defense while Nate will add depth and athleticism to our backcourt.”

Tonight will offer insight into whether the move really helped the Thunder or not.  Perkins has always done an admirable job on Howard and Howard has traditionally abused the Thunder.  If they can now keep Howard in check, they might have the ingredients necessary to end their six game losing streak they have in road games against the Magic.

Some betting trends:

The total has gone OVER in 8 of Oklahoma City’s last 12 games and Oklahoma City is 6-3 SU in their last 9 games.  Oklahoma City is 4-2 SU in their last 6 games on the road and the total has gone OVER In 4 of OKC’s last 6 games on the road.  The total has gone UNDER in 10 of their last 14 games against the Magic and Oklahoma City is 2-8 SU in their last 10 games against Orlando.  Oklahoma City is 2-4 ATS in their last 6 games on the road against the Magic.  The total has gone UNDER in 5 of OKC’s last 6 games on the road against the Magic and Oklahoma City is 0-5 SU in their last 5 on the road in Orlando.

The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Orlando’s last 7 games and they are 4-2 SU in their last 6 games.  Orlando is 12-4 SU in their last 16 at home and the total has gone UNDER in 9 of their last 13 home games.  The total has gone UNDER in 10 of Orlando’s last 14 games against Oklahoma City and Orlando is 8-2 SU in their last 10 games against the Thunder.  Orlando is 5-0 SU in their last 5 home games against OKC and the total has gone UNDER in 5 of their last 6 home games against the Thunder.

Key Matchups:

Kendrick Perkins vs. Dwight Howard

Admittedly, this is more about Dwight Howard’s offense than anything else, but Perkins has proven to be one of the few “Dwight stoppers” in the league.  Boston typically played Perkins straight up against Howard, and now Oklahoma City can do the same, which effectively limits Orlando’s deadly three point shooting.  Last time the Thunder and Magic met, Howard scored 39 points and grabbed 18 rebounds.  Those figures are sure to go down tonight.  For his career against OKC he has averaged 20.2 points per game and 13.6 rebounds per game.

Russell Westbrook vs. Jameer Nelson

Last game against the Magic, Westbrook went nuts, scoring 32 points, dishing 13 assists, and grabbing 10 rebounds, for his first career triple double.  Nelson really has no defense against Westbrook.  Westbrook is 6 inches taller than the 5’9″ Nelson (let’s be real, no one thinks he is his listed 6’0″) and has the athleticism to abuse even bigger players.  In addition to destroying Nelson on the offensive end, he also held Nelson to 9 points and 6 assists.  If the Magic are going to win tonight, with Dwight being more nuetralized by Perkins, they are going to need a bigger game from Nelson.