Thunder Take Frustrations Out on Knicks; Ready for Blazers

Troy Taormina-US PRESSWIRE

The Oklahoma City Thunder were likely none too pleased after letting a 15 point halftime lead get away on Friday night against the Orlando Magic. On Sunday, the New York Knicks felt their wrath in a 112-100 Thunder win at Madison Square Garden. This win gives the Thunder a nice four game lead headed into their showdown on Tuesday night with the second place Portland Trail Blazers. The Blazers and Thunder were tied the last time the two teams met on January 21 when the Thunder won 105-97. OKC has been red hot ever since, especially Kevin Durant. He had 41 points against the Knicks on Sunday.

A Blazers win would close them to two games behind the Thunder in the loss column. More importantly, the Blazers are in a tight battle to stay in the top four spots in the Western Conference and a loss moves the Houston Rockets within one game of the Blazers. If they drop to fifth, they must go on the road in the first round. The Blazers have been struggling near .500 ever since they lost to the Thunder. Since losing to the Thunder seemed to set them behind, perhaps a win over them could get them back on the right track again.

With the All-Star Break just around the corner, Portland really needs to go in with some momentum. To win this game they need to somehow slow down Durant. Nobody has had much luck with that lately.

The Denver Nuggets are trying to hang close in the playoff race at 24-25. Right now they are five games out of the eighth spot, so they need to get hot and do it soon. they will face the Minnesota Timberwolves who are six games behind the eighth spot themselves at 24-27 on Wednesday in Minneapolis. This might well be an elimination game as the loser will likely need to start looking towards the NBA Draft.

Bookmaker has the odds on tomorrow’s games:

OKC at Portland– The Thunder is +1 -110 and the Blazers are -1 -110 ATS.  We like the Thunder +1 -110 in this one. Durant is just too hot right now.

Utah at Los Angeles Lakers- The Jazz are coming off a nice win over the Miami Heat while the Lakers are still floundering. The Jazz is +1.5 -110 and the Lakers are -1.4 -110 ATS. We are going to go with the Lakers at home in this one. The Jazz should have a bot of a let down after beating Miami.