Trail Blazers at Thunder: What Bettors Need to Know
By Covers.com
Port;and Trail Blazers at Oklahoma City Thunder (-5.5, 216.5)
Kevin Durant attempts to run his streak of consecutive 30-point outings to eight when the Oklahoma City Thunder host the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday in a battle of Western Conference heavyweights. Durant has been on a tremendous scoring spree this month, setting an NBA-season high with 54 points last Friday against Golden State and scoring 48 on two other occasions. Portland had won five straight games before falling to the Houston Rockets on Monday.
Trail Blazers forward Nicolas Batum reinjured his fractured left middle finger in the loss to the Rockets and said after the contest that he will probably need a new splint if he is to attempt to play against the Thunder. Forward LaMarcus Aldridge had 27 points and 20 rebounds for his third 20-20 outing of this season and fifth in his career. The Thunder will be gunning for Portland in this contest after losing the first two meetings this season; the two teams are tied for second place in the Western Conference, one game behind the San Antonio Spurs.
LINE: The Thunder opened as 5,5-point home faves. The total opened at 216.5.
COVERS POWER RANKINGS: Portland (-11.5) - Oklahoma City (-12.5) + home court (-3) = Oklahoma City -4
ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (31-10, 24-17 ATS): Guard Damian Lillard had 24 points in the loss to the Rockets and his 131 3-pointers are the most in history for a player through his team’s first 41 games. Ray Allen made 130 3-pointers in Boston’s first 41 games of the 2005-06 campaign. Lillard is a little bit more concerned with how Portland bounces back as the effort wasn’t always top-notch against Houston. “They were beating us to all the loose balls and they were playing free and easy and getting whatever they wanted,” Lillard said afterward.
ABOUT THE THUNDER (31-10, 23-18 ATS): While Durant has been carrying the offense, power forward Serge Ibaka scored 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting against Sacramento on Sunday. It was the third straight game in which Ibaka scored 20 or more and he is 27-of-37 shooting during the stretch. “He is a guy that excels off of playing everybody else,” Durant said of Ibaka. “He gives himself up by setting screens and rolls to the rim and the ball finds him. He sets great screens and moves the defense. He shifts the defense with his hard rolls to the basket and you have to respect his jumper.”
TRENDS:
* Under is 5-1 in the last six meetings.
* Under is 19-5-2 in the last 26 meetings in Oklahoma City.
* Favorite is 15-5-1 ATS in the last 21 meetings.
* Trail Blazers are 2-6-1 ATS in the last nine meetings.
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. The Trail Blazers had lost seven straight games against the Thunder prior to this season’s two victories.
2. Aldridge is averaging 31.5 points and 13.5 rebounds against Oklahoma City this season.
3. Oklahoma City PG Reggie Jackson is averaging 17.5 points over the past four games and has reached double digits in eight of the last nine outings.
Heat, Celtics hook up
By Sportsbook.ag
BOSTON CELTICS (14-28) at MIAMI HEAT (29-12)
Sportsbook.ag Line & Total: Miami -9, 197.5
After an unsuccessful road trip, the Heat look to end their struggles on Tuesday evening when they return home to face the slumping Celtics.
Miami has been one of the best defensive teams in the league this season, allowing only 98.8 PPG (9th in NBA), but in its just-completed 2-4 road trip, the club allowed 102+ points in all four defeats. Boston has been atrocious over the past month, losing 14 of 16 games SU and going 5-11 ATS. Before this slide, the team had allowed just 95.8 PPG, but that number has jumped to 103.6 PPG during the 2-14 stretch. This includes going 0-2 (SU and ATS) since getting star PG Rajon Rondo back on the court.
When these teams met earlier in the season on Nov. 9, the Heat were a 13.5-point home favorite but lost 111-110 on a Jeff Green buzzer-beating three pointer. This improved the Celtics record in this series to 12-4 ATS (8-8 SU) over the past three seasons, including 6-3 ATS (3-6 SU) in Miami. The Over is 12-4 (75%) in this series during this three-year timeframe, including 8-1 (89%) in South Beach. This season, Boston is a solid 11-10 ATS (5-16 SU) on the road, while the Heat are a poor 7-12 ATS (16-3 SU) at home. Both teams have favorable betting trends on Tuesday though, with Miami benefitting from the fact that NBA favorites with a 60% to 75% win pct. coming off an upset division loss when favored are 32-8 ATS (80%) in the past five seasons when facing a losing team. However, extremely tired (playing 4th game in 5 days) home teams revenging a loss where the opponent scored 110+ points are a mere 6-28 ATS (18%) over the past five seasons. On the injury front, SF Jeff Green (knee) is probable for Boston, while Jerryd Bayless (toe) is questionable.
The Celtics have been a poor offensive team all season with just 95.2 PPG (25th in NBA) on 43.9% FG (23rd in league) and 33.2% threes (28th in NBA). They are also tallying a subpar 42.7 RPG (21st in league) and a woeful 19.7 APG (28th in NBA), but got a lot of firepower back recently with PG Rajon Rondo returning from a torn ACL. Despite losing both games with Rondo in the lineup, he is averaging 7.0 PPG, 4.0 APG, 4.0 RPG and 1.5 SPG in just 20.5 MPG. He will need to use his speed to get into the paint and create shots for his teammates as he will be guarded by a slower player in Mario Chalmers. In the past four meetings he's had with the Heat, Rondo has posted an impressive 54 assists (13.5 APG) and just 16 turnovers (3.4 Ast/TO ratio).
SF Jeff Green (15.8 PPG, 5.0 RPG) hit a game-winner the last time these teams played on Nov. 9, finishing that contest with 23 points (5-of-8 threes) and five boards. Green is also coming off a 22-point performance against the Magic where he shot 15 free throws, and his ability to get into the paint will be a key part of this matchup. Green will also have the nearly impossible defensive assignment of containing LeBron James. PF Jared Sullinger (13.1 PPG, 7.8 RPG) will need to score the basketball as he will be going up against a relatively small frontcourt. Sullinger has averaged just 9.5 PPG over the past two contests and the Celtics will need a lot more out of him. PG Avery Bradley (14.8 PPG, 4.2 RPG) is coming off of an 18-point performance against the Magic, but made just 7-of-21 shots (0-for-5 threes). Bradley is one of the best on-ball defenders in the NBA and will be relied upon to shut down Dwyane Wade.
The Heat have been a highly efficient offense all season with 104.2 PPG (7th in NBA) on a league-high 50.6% FG and 37.6% threes (7th in NBA). They have also dished out 23.5 APG (5th in NBA) and rank 11th in the league with a 1.62 Ast/TO ratio. The one weakness continues to be on the boards, as they have the fewest rebounds in the league (36.6 RPG) and the NBA's fourth-worst rebounding margin (minus-3.8 RPG). SG Dwyane Wade (18.9 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 4.7 APG) sat out the past two games for Miami with a sore knee, but is expected to give it a go against the Celtics. Wade has dropped 20.7 PPG, 6.1 APG and 4.2 RPG in 32 career games in this series, finishing the Nov. 9 meeting with 18 points and seven assists. SF LeBron James (26.1 PPG, 6.7 RPG, 6.6 APG, 1.3 SPG) has also dominated Boston in his career with 30.1 PPG (50% FG), 6.7 RPG and 6.6 APG in 35 career meetings. This includes a 25-point, 10-assist, 8-rebound effort earlier this season when he made 9-of-13 FG. James continues to play at an MVP level, averaging 29.7 PPG, 6.7 RPG and 6.7 APG during the six-game road trip his team just wrapped up.
PF Chris Bosh (16.3 PPG, 6.7 RPG, 1.1 BPG) also had a strong road trip, averaging 24.3 PPG (54% FG, 8-of-18 threes), 6.8 RPG and 1.3 BPG over the final four contests. He should have a productive game against the Celtics who lack a strong interior presence defensively, and who have always struggled to guard Bosh who has 18.5 PPG, 9.1 RPG in 37 career meetings against them. Since returning from an Achilles injury, PG Mario Chalmers (9.5 PPG, 5.1 APG, 1.9 SPG) is averaging a solid 12.0 PPG, 4.7 APG, 3.3 RPG and 2.3 SPG. He will need to hold his own against Rajon Rondo, who is an elite player when healthy, but he is still not close to 100 percent after returning from a torn ACL.