The Oklahoma City Thunder emerged last year as an up and coming team in NBA betting picks that gamblers had to take serious after their surprisingly strong challenge to the Los Angeles Lakers in the playoffs last year. Despite the fact that the Lakers won in 6 games, the series was hard fought and far more competitive than expected. ABC will televise the key Western Conference match-up that could prove to be a potential playoff preview when the Lakers vs Thunder tip-off at 2:30pm EST.
Online sportsbooks have opened with the Lakers -1 favorites in NBA odds on the road vs the Thunder with an over/under betting total of 200. After a terrible close to the first half of the season, the Lakers have stormed out of the gate since the All Star Break with 3 consecutive wins and payouts and are coming off a 108-95 home win over the Clippers as 10.5-point favorites in NBA betting picks. Los Angeles enters Sunday's game 41-19 straight up and 16-14-1 against the spread on the road. Kobe Bryant lead the Lakers vs the Clippers with 25.2-points per game while Pau Gasol had 10.4-rebounds per outing.
Oklahoma City continues to improve as they now lead the Northwest Division standings with a record of 36-21 in NBA odds. The Thunder is 15-13 against the spread at home and has gone OVER the total in 20 out of 28 home games. Kevin Durant continues to emerge as one of the top superstars in the game with 28.6 points per game. OKC ranks 5th in the NBA betting picks for scoring but 20th for scoring defense which explains their tendency to go OVER the total. The Lakers have failed to get the money in their last 5 trips to Oklahoma City with 5 of the last 8 games between the teams at OKC going UNDER the total.