NBA Betting – Saturday Night Picks – Oklahoma City Thunder vs Dallas Mavericks
Before nba betting fans turn their attention to more sports betting events this weekend, we have the NBA. It’s time for our weekly Saturday Night hoops picks for NBA gambling action.
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Thunder vs. Mavericks
Time: Saturday 8:30 ET
Venue: American Airlines Center, Dallas
Spread: Mavericks -3.5
Over/Under: 195.5
Can the Oklahoma City Thunder replicate in the playoffs what they have done in the regular season?
They have all the ingredients for the cake to rise — one of the top scorers in the league (Kevin Durant) who no one has figure out how to cover; the most underrated player in the league (point guard Russell Westbrook), and enough depth to play up tempo for 48 minutes.
Tonight’s game at Dallas will be a decent test. The Western Conference playoff race is a big scramble, and OKC is smack dab in the middle of the conversation. If momentum means anything, the Thunder will steal the No. 5 seed and get the Mavericks, Suns or Utah in the first round.
OKC has had one huge advantage over many other teams in the second half of the season because the Thunder flat-out battle on every possession. That was never more evident than earlier this week when they outlasted and wore down the Celtics in Boston.
But the Thunder will find that once the real bullets start flying in the middle of the month, every team will be playing hard. Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett will no longer be pacing themselves. Shaq O’Neal may even hustle a little.
The smart money is on the Thunder to give their first-round opponent a lot of grief in the first round but fade away in 6 or 7 games. But if they can get by one of the Western heavies and advance to Round 2, they will then officially become the team no one wants to face.
Betting Trends:
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Oklahoma City’s last 6 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Dallas’s last 6 games
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Dallas’s last 5 games at home
Oklahoma City is 7-1 ATS in its last 8 games when playing Dallas
Oklahoma City is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games
Oklahoma City is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games
Dallas is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against Oklahoma City
Dallas is 17-3 SU in its last 20 games when playing Oklahoma City
BEST BET: Easily the best game on the board tonight, and just watching Durant and Dirk Nowitzki go at it is worth a few hours of your time. Normally the Mavericks would be the pick here at -3.5, but the Thunder play hard for 48 minutes and blowout losses are rare, even on the road. Neither team played last night and both should be able to dig in defensively. Three other games between these teams have trended under, and at 195.5 that’s the play tonight. Keep an eye on the Russell Westbrook-Jason Kidd battle at the point. Last year Kidd faded badly in the first round of the playoffs, a major reason for Dallas’s loss to Denver in the first round. He might start pacing himself in the final stages of this season to reserve energy.
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Lawrence Paul is a regular contributor to the Cappers Picks Blog, and is a free-lance gambling and travel expert from Massachusetts.
