Basketball Playoffs betting on Thursday includes Game 3 of the series between the Los Angeles Lakers and Oklahoma City Thunder. The Lakers were solid basketball betting favorites at home in the first two games of this series but the line is very tight for Game 3 at Oklahoma City.
Basketball Playoffs betting favors Los Angeles for the most part whether they are at home or on the road. In this Game 3 that can be seen on TNT television, the Lakers are getting respect on the point spread. The Lakers have won 8 of the last 10 games road contests against Oklahoma City/Seattle. Since the team became the Thunder and played in Oklahoma City, the Lakers have won three of the four meetings. The Thunder did win at home though last month by a score of 91-75 against Los Angeles
It is hard to gain much from looking at past trends with Oklahoma City. They are simply a different team that continues to improve each season. The Thunder as the league’s leading scorer in Kevin Durant and a solid supporting cast. The Thunder are very young and inexperienced though and that has hurt them in this series.
Los Angeles are the defending NBA champs and they have a very good lineup led by Kobe Bryant. Paul Gasol is a huge matchup problem for Oklahoma City and so far the Lakers have not gotten hurt too bad by the Thunder guards. Russell Westbrook should be able to exploit the Los Angeles backcourt and perhaps that will happen now that the series has moved to Oklahoma City.
Game 3 is the critical one for the Thunder in basketball playoffs betting. If they lose this game they can probably say goodbye to any realistic chance they have to win this series.
The Lakers had a losing record in basketball betting at home and on the road. They were 17-23-1 on the road vs. the point spread this season. Normally the Lakers are a better value away from home but this season it didn’t matter as they struggled to cover the spread all the way around.
Oklahoma City was 22-19 at home vs. the point spread this season. The Thunder started to get respect on their home court as the season progressed so the value on Oklahoma City was less. They have a chance in this game to get the win though and make this a competitive series against Los Angeles.