As the 2015-16 NBA Regular season grinds on, tonight the 27th of February 2016 we have an always exciting match-up, between 2 Western Conference rivals with the 52-5 Golden State Warriors (1st in West) playing at the 41-17 OKC Thunder (3rd in West) with the game being played at the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma with the tip-off scheduled for 8:40 PM ET and see on ABC TV.
If you are one to Bet on NBA at SBG sportsbook the Vegas odds has the Warriors as expected the favorites at -3 ½ with the Over/under at 234 and -165 on the Money Line, while the Thunder are listed as the underdogs at +3 ½ and +145 on the Money Line.
This game for the Warriors ends their 7 game road trip which has been successful to this point, as they won 5 of the previous 6 games coming into tonight’s 7th road game. This may be a tough scenario for continuing their winning ways, as they always seem to struggle over the past years when playing the Thunder on their home court. Fans wonder if the Thunder can upset the Warriors tonight.
If you’re a fan of the 52-5 Golden State Warriors your star player S. Curry has been nothing but spectacular this February 2016 to date as he had his 2nd 51 point game of the month in their victory over the Magic on this past Thursday, and to date this month he is averaging some 35.8 points each game, completing 50% of his 3 point attempts and averaging 12 3-point attempts each game to date.
However, against the spread they have not fared well this February in their last 9 games at 4-5 against the spread and in their last 7 games just 2-5 against the spread. But they still are second in the league behind the Spurs of San Antonio with 33-23-1 against the spread for this season 2015-16. It’s interesting that 1 game that they did cover against the spread was 116-108 home victory on the 6th of February over the OKC Thunder. In that game their star S. Curry struggled as from the field he only completed some 10 of his 26 shots, and on 3-pointers he only made 1 of his 9 attempts. Thankfully their bench came to the rescue and scored 43 points in that win.
Since the Warriors top players in the last few games have struggled the team has used their bench strength to win on their road games, and that could be the case again this evening. In the game against the Magic splash brother K. Thompson struggled only scoring 9 points in the game, but they expect him to get back on track tonight. Remember, he is the reigning 3-point champ, but hasn’t had 2 games in single digits this season.
For the fans of the 41-17 OKC Thunder are struggling a bit as this past Thursday they lost 123-119 to the Pelicans of New Orleans, even as their stars R. Westbrook and K. Durant had a combined 77 points. Since the All-Star break the Thunder have won 1 game and lost 3, and that is their worst run that dates back to November 2015.
OKC has not had the support from their star duo in Durant and Westbrook or their bench apart from S. Ibaka and E. Kanter who is their only player that in those last 3 losses scored in double digits. Even if their star power in Durant and Westbrook comes back to normal, the Thunder still needs other members of the team to step up their game performance, as even with the duo scoring at least 25 points each per game, the team is still on 9-9 when both are performing up to par.
This game at home against the league’s top team the Warriors, it make being about enough competitive spirit from the Thunder players to get back on track. The team as the talent and size to make for a good match-up against Golden State, and that could be proven by their record at home against the Warriors in past seasons. Dating back to 2008 New Years Eve the Thunder, Durant and teammates in the ultimate 12 home games have an incredible record of 11 wins and 1 loss against the Warriors.
The online gambling prediction for this Western Conference rivalry game will see the Golden State Warriors finally change their luck at the Chesapeake Energy Arena and beat the Thunder at their home 120-111.