Washington Wizards at Oklahoma City Thunder – OKC to Cover

BetOnline NBA Basketball Betting Odds: OKLAHOMA CITY -4.5, Total 194

Here are some of the NBA pro basketball sports betting trends as they relate to this matchup:

* WASH has lost four of its last five games SU

* WASH has covered one of its last five games

* WASH has played 11 of its last 15 games OVER the total

* WASH has played four of its last five games UNDER the total

* WASH is 1-6-1 ATS in its last eight road games

* WASH has lost seven of its last eight road games SU

* WASH has played four of its last five road games OVER the total

* OKC has lost seven of its last nine games SU

* OKC has covered 14 of its last 18 home games

Also….

* WASH has covered ten of the last 12 meetings

* WASH has won the last five meetings SU

* Five of the last seven meetings have gone OVER the total

* OKC has won and covered five of the last seven meetings as the home tam

* OKC has had the rebounding edge in four of the last six meetings

Oklahoma City is in the rare position of being a favorite in this game and the Thunder are laying points without Kevin Durant in the lineup. The 6’9" swingman from Texas is out with a sprained ankle, which is tough news because he had scored 47, 35, 32 and 32 points in his previous four games, and had at least 30 points in five of the six games prior to that. Lest anyone think the Thunder couldn’t possibly survive without him, they went on to lose by only two points against Dallas the night Durant got injured, then won at Memphis and scored a nine-point win over Dallas in the return match.

Nenad Krstic stepped up against Dallas with his most productive game of the season, tallying 26 points. Kyle Weaver has been a nice find; he scored 18 points against Dallas in his last outing. Thabo Sefolosha has also been a nice acquisition, as he has averaged 12.5 ppg as a starter at the off-guard position.

Oklahoma City has maintained a pretty good point spread record, and is 18-13 ATS at the Ford Center. Meanwhile, Washington is getting contributions from forward Antawn Jamison as usual, as he’s put together 21.6 points and 9.2 rebounds per contest. The rest of the news is not so good. Caron Butler sat out the last game with a hamstring problem, and three other players – DeShawn Stevenson, Etan Thomas and Brendan Haywood – have joined Gilbert Arenas on the sidelines. Arenas, one of the league’s best scorers when healthy, hasn’t played all year (had knee surgery in September) and this year, with more hurts, the Wizards have had a much harder time adjusting to life without him.

Washington has just four straight-up road wins and ten covers. They have allowed more three-pointers than any team in the league, and have been outscored by ten points per game as the visitor. It looks as if the Okies, who have young, developing talent that plays hard for coach Scott Brooks, have more going for them right now, as they find positives in every performance. We’ll lay the points with the Thunder, the 4.5-point favorite in the BetOnline NBA pro basketball sports betting odds.

JAY’S PLAY: OKLAHOMA CITY -4.5 **

(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)