Oklahoma City Thunder AT Sacramento Kings
April 11, 2011 at 10:05 PM EST
Opening Line:  OKC -5.5
Current Line: OKC -5.5
Opening Total:  208
Current Total:  208.5
Opening Moneyline:  OKC -235 / SAC +195
Current Moneyline:  OKC -240 / SAC +200

Many Kings fans may show up for tonight’s game with tears of nostalgia — maybe the ones from the Mike Bibby – Chris Webber – Peja Stojakovic era.  That’s because this represents one of the last two home games in Sacramento before the Kings are relocated to Anaheim next season.  What makes it worse is that there will be no playoff games.  The Kings haven’t been relevant in a decade and their only hope of contention is that Tyreke Evans and DeMarcus Cousins develop into a dynamic duo.  Cousins has a lot of areas to work on and Tyreke Evans must return to the form he was in during his rookie season when he posted a 20/5/5 line.

Oklahoma City is the probable 3 seed in the West and the Thunder have only desperate hopes of catching the Lakers.  The positive that the Thunder can draw is that they just beat the Lakers 120-106 on Sunday, as Durant scored 31 points and the Thunder won their 54th game of the season.

“This was a step in the right direction, but we want to get to something bigger, but it was kind of a statement win for us,” Durant said.

Westbrook also had an outstanding game.  He posted 26 points, 7 assists, and 6 rebounds.  The Lakers dropped their fifth straight.

“The fourth quarter defense was the best as we could possibly play against one of the best teams in basketball,” Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks said. “Anytime you can beat the Lakers it’s a good win. They’re one of the best teams and they haven’t won a lot of games lately, but they’re going to be right there.”

Some betting trends:

The total has gone UNDER in 12 of Oklahoma City’s last 17 games and the Thunder are 15-3 SU in their last 18 games.  The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Oklahoma City’s last 8 games on the road and the Thunder are 7-2 SU in their last 9 on the road.  The Thunder are 5-0 SU in their last 5 games against the Sacramento Kings and the Thunder are 4-2 SU in their last 6 road games against the Kings.  The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Oklahoma CIty’s last 7 games when on the road against Sacramento and the total has gone OVER in 13 of Oklahoma City’s last 19 games on the road against the Kings.

The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Sacramento’s last 7 games.  Sacramento is 4-11 SU in their last 15 games at home and the total has gone UNDER in 4 of their last 5 at home.  Sacramento is 0-5 SU in their last 5 games against OKC.  The total has gone OVER In 13 of Sacramento’s last 19 games against the Thunder and the Kings are 2-4 SU in their last 6 games at home against the Thunder.  The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Sacramento’s last 7 games at home against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Key Matchups:

Kendrick Perkins vs. DeMarcus Cousins

Aside from the high turnovers, one could really not expect much more than Cousins has already delivered.  14.0 points per game, 8.7 rebounds per game, 2.5 assists per game, 1 steal per game.  His field goal percentage is horrid for a big man at 42%, but that will improve as he becomes more accustomed to facing players that are his size every night.  The 3.3 turnovers, as alluded to, is absolutely horrendous for a player that is only seeing 28 minutes a game and averages less than 3 assists per game.  Perkins, unlike Cousins, is not depended upon for offense.  His defense, however, is among the best for big men in the league and he added another big and tough body to the Thunder’s rotation.  Along with Nick Collison and Serge Ibaka, the Thunder have a strong rotation of big bodies to cover Cousins and other big men that they encounter.

Thabo Sefolosha & James Harden vs.  Tyreke Evans

Again, the Thunder counter a high scoring King with an excellent defender in Sefolosha.  Harden is more a scorer, but his defense is at least average.  Evans is going to try to take Thabo to the hoop, but will probably find it difficult to do so.  His jumper has not been reliable and he is shooting just 41% from the field, down 4% from last season.  He’s still getting the same number of shots; he’s just not making them.  Sefolosha won’t offer much on offense because that isn’t his job, while Harden will hit a few threes here and there, but is pretty one dimensional at this point in his career.

The Kings have little to play for other than giving their Sacramento fans a few last looks at a Kings’ victory.  The Thunder know they have little hope of moving up in the seedings but have to look at this game as a chance to fine tune things for the playoffs.