Most important of all from a wagering perspective is that the Thunder made gamblers quite happy with a large profit NBA betting margin. Under the leadership of head coach Mark Daigneault, the Thunder is a full-court team that controls both ends of the floor. With the duo of general manager Sam Presti and superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Oklahoma City Thunder has been transformed into one of the elite franchises in professional sports. Consider Oklahoma City dominated the 2024-25 NBA season with the best record in the league. Now, OKC has been transformed into an impressive rebuild.
2025 NBA Playoffs First Round Preview: Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Memphis Grizzlies
| Date and Time: | Tuesday, April 22, 2025, 7:30 p.m ET |
|---|---|
| Location: | Paycom Center, Oklahoma City, OK |
| TV Coverage: | TNT |
| Team | Spread | Total | ML | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Memphis Grizzlies | +14 -105 | 229 -110 | +675 |  |
| Oklahoma City Thunder | -14 -115 | 229 -110 | -1050 | |
| ||||
Oklahoma City Thunder Series Schedule
- Game 2: Grizzlies at Thunder | Tuesday, April 22, 7:30 p.m. | TNT
- Game 3: Thunder at Grizzlies | Thursday, April 24, TBD | TNT
- Game 4: Thunder at Grizzlies | Saturday, April 26, 1 p.m. | TNT
- Game 5: Grizzlies at Thunder | Monday, April 28, TBD | TBD *
- Game 6: Thunder at Grizzlies | Thursday, May 1, TBD | TBD *
- Game 7: Grizzlies at Thunder | Saturday, May 3, TBD | TBD *
Oklahoma City Thunder Head Coach
Namely, Mark Daigneault has been the head coach since the 2020 season after serving as an assistant from 2016 through 2020. Previously, he was an assistant and is a disciple of former Thunder coaching great Billy Donovan. Daigneault has a career regular-season sportsbook record of 211-189. He has led Oklahoma City to the playoffs the past two seasons.
Oklahoma City Thunder Key Players
PG Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 30.1 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 6.2 assists per game in 2023-24. Also, he is a 3-time NBA All-Star, including this season. Alexander averaged 23.7 or more points per game in the past three seasons. This season, he is averaging 32.7 points and 6.4 assists per game. Correlate that Alexander was the 11th overall pick of the 2018 NBA Draft by the Charlotte Hornets out of Kentucky.
Oklahoma City Thunder Record, Metrics & History
Overall, Oklahoma City’s NBA metrics were 3rd for scoring offense, 7th for field goal percentage, 6th for 3-point field goal percentage, 1st for free throw percentage, and 10th for offensive rebounding. While on defense, the Thunder’s metrics were 3rd for scoring defense, 1st for field goal percentage permitted, 1st for 3-point field goal percentage allowed, and 22nd for defensive rebounding.
The Oklahoma City Thunder had a final regular season record of 68-14 straight up, 55-23-4 against the spread, and 55-36 over/under the NBA betting total. As a result, Oklahoma City was first in the Western Conference playoff standings. The Houston Rockets were 16 games behind the Thunder in the Western Conference playoff race.
Accordingly, Clay Bennett led a consortium that bought the franchise in 2006. The Thunder had two superstars to build around after taking Kevin Durant as No. 2 overall in the 2007 NBA Draft and Russell Westbrook as No. 4 in the 2008 NBA Draft.
Hence, Oklahoma City was a title contender for a half-decade with Durant and Westbrook. Still, the Thunder gave us one of the biggest What If scenarios in the modern-day NBA after they traded James Harden to the Houston Rockets after the 2012 season. Harden established himself as a future Hall of Famer in Houston, and that move was part of why Durant wanted out of OKC.