Phoenix Suns AT Oklahoma City Thunder
Sunday, December 19th, 2010 at 7:05 PM EST
Point Spread: Oklahoma City -9.5
Current Total: 215
Moneyline: Oklahoma City -550 / Phoenix +450
Phoenix just made a blockbuster trade, sending Jason Richardson, Hedo Turkoglu, and Earl Clark to Orlando for Vince Carter, Mikael Pietrus, and Marcin Gortat. While that may help them in the long term, it should prove to be a hinderance tonight, as it is doubtful that the newly acquired players play. Even if they do, that may not be enough as Steve Nash is doubtful for tonight’s game. All things considered, NBA oddsmakers have set the spread at 9.5 points in Oklahoma City’s favor, and if Phoenix is as shorthanded as they could be, even that may be under the actual spread for tonight’s game.
Phoenix is 0-2 without Nash and 9-19 without Nash over the past five seasons, so without Nash, the moneyline on this one would be very enticing. Phoenix hasn’t been particularly impressive of late, or this year, for that matter, and have split their last ten games while going 12-13 on the year so far. Oklahoma City, on the other hand, is on fire, and they have won their last five outings and 8 of their last 10 to pull them to the 4th seed in the Western Conference as they sport a 19-8 record. They are only one game behind the Lakers in the standings for the 3rd seed and are fulfilling the lofty expectations placed on them going into this year, following an improbable run last year, that had them within a defensive rebound of taking the highly favored Lakers to 7 games in the first round of last year’s playoffs.
Some betting trends: Phoenix is 0-5 ATS in their last 5 games and 2-6 in their last 8 road games. They are 2-5-1 ATS in these games. They are 4-10-1 ATS in their last 15 games in Oklahoma City. The total has also gone UNDER in 11 of Phoenix’s last 15 games in Oklahoma City. Phoenix has, however, won 10 of their last 12 games in Oklahoma City but are 5-8 on the road this season.
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Oklahoma City’s last 6 games. The total has gone OVER in 8 of their last 11 at home, though. The total has gone UNDER in 11 of OKC’s past 15 games against Phoenix and OKC is 6-1-1 ATS in their last 8 games at home against Phoenix.
Russell Westbrook has been playing like an all-star this year and looks to make his first all star team. He will be checked by Goran Dragic tonight if Nash is unable to go, and to say he has an advantage against Dragic would be just a bit of an understatement. There is no way Dragic can contain Westbrook; he lacks the speed, strength, and athleticism. Durant should also have a big night, though Grant Hill is one of Phoenix’s few good defenders. In 11 career games against Phoenix, Durant is averaging 26.6 points per game, only slightly below his 27.4 average for this season. Last game against Phoenix on April 9th of last season, he went for 35 points and 9 boards and he should have a similar game tonight, as the game will still be fast paced, with or without Nash in the lineup.
