Many reasons to back OKC in this situation. On the season they are 9-1 SU/ATS after an upset loss. If you want to go back further a couple yrs, they are 32-12-1 ATS in this situation.
Some recent examples:
loss at Wash then won by 22 vs Minny;
loss at Den then won by 12 at LAC;
loss at GS then won by 10 at Sac;
loss at Lakers then won by 17 vs Mem;
loss at Cleveland then won by 21 vs Dal;
So, one might conclude that:
loss at Utah then win by ??? vs Miami.
Miami is 12-11 on the road (10-13 ATS), 12-10 (9-13 ATS) vs teams over 500. OKC is 23-3 (18-8 ATS) at home, and 17-7 (16-7-1 ATS) vs teams over 500. This shows the Heat being quite vulnerable on the road, and against playoff teams.
Then throw in the revenge factor and the last game before the break that the Thunder must have, and OKC should have a clear motivational advantage.
However, I believe national tv games allow teams to play to their potential, similar to a playoff game. In other words, you are who you really are under the highest amount of pressure. To that end, these teams match up well as evidence in the Finals and the early season game at Miami. In fact, you could argue that Miami (w/Ray Allen) is better than last year's team, while OKC without Harden is worse. And the odds here at -5.5 just doesn't quite fit, IMO. It's flirting with karma a bit, which is why I'll just bet that when the smoke clears you'll see an even matchup that comes down to the 4th qtr, and yes, Miami has a chance to win.
Heat +5.5
Clippers are 4/5 days and b2b. CP3/Griffin logged in 30+ mins in a game where they were probably looking ahead to this Lakers game in the second half. Clippers are clearly better, no question. In fact, they are my pick for the Finals to represent the West. That in mind, the Lakers will be prepared and I believe they have the surprise factor, as the Clippers haven't faced the Lakers with Kobe as distributor. With fatigue setting in on the Clippers I see a close 4th qtr contest with the Lakers having a chance to win.
Lakers +3.5
GL, everyone.
Some recent examples:
loss at Wash then won by 22 vs Minny;
loss at Den then won by 12 at LAC;
loss at GS then won by 10 at Sac;
loss at Lakers then won by 17 vs Mem;
loss at Cleveland then won by 21 vs Dal;
So, one might conclude that:
loss at Utah then win by ??? vs Miami.
Miami is 12-11 on the road (10-13 ATS), 12-10 (9-13 ATS) vs teams over 500. OKC is 23-3 (18-8 ATS) at home, and 17-7 (16-7-1 ATS) vs teams over 500. This shows the Heat being quite vulnerable on the road, and against playoff teams.
Then throw in the revenge factor and the last game before the break that the Thunder must have, and OKC should have a clear motivational advantage.
However, I believe national tv games allow teams to play to their potential, similar to a playoff game. In other words, you are who you really are under the highest amount of pressure. To that end, these teams match up well as evidence in the Finals and the early season game at Miami. In fact, you could argue that Miami (w/Ray Allen) is better than last year's team, while OKC without Harden is worse. And the odds here at -5.5 just doesn't quite fit, IMO. It's flirting with karma a bit, which is why I'll just bet that when the smoke clears you'll see an even matchup that comes down to the 4th qtr, and yes, Miami has a chance to win.
Heat +5.5
Clippers are 4/5 days and b2b. CP3/Griffin logged in 30+ mins in a game where they were probably looking ahead to this Lakers game in the second half. Clippers are clearly better, no question. In fact, they are my pick for the Finals to represent the West. That in mind, the Lakers will be prepared and I believe they have the surprise factor, as the Clippers haven't faced the Lakers with Kobe as distributor. With fatigue setting in on the Clippers I see a close 4th qtr contest with the Lakers having a chance to win.
Lakers +3.5
GL, everyone.
