Game Time: 8:00 PM ET, Monday, February 7th, 2022 

Venue: Paycom Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Where to Watch:  NBA League Pass

DraftKings:  Spread:  Warriors -11.5; O/U 213

BetMGM:  Spread:  NL

VegasInsider:  Spread:  Warriors -12; O/U 212.5

WynnBet: Spread:  Warriors -12; O/U 212.5

Warriors: 40-13, 2nd place Western Conference

Thunder: 17-35, 14th place Western Conference

A Western Conference matchup that should only produce a whimper.  In the NBA any team can beat any team.  If you look at the Houston Rockets and the Detroit Pistons you will find wins in their win column.  It seems mind-boggling because those are very bad teams… if not teams completely built to lose no matter who they are playing… BUT every team still has NBA players.  Every team is capable of a good shooting night or just simply taking advantage of a team that is tired.  The season is long and arduous and even the worst teams will win a few.  This is not that game.  The Golden State Warriors are winners.  Even when they take someone for granted and find themselves having to hustle in the 4th quarter, the Warriors are still winners.  They are coached by a winner, they have winners up and down the roster, and the fans expect winning.  The Oklahoma City Thunder are not winners.  In fact the Thunder have been built for losing.  The Thunder at one time had SG James Harden, PG Russell Westbrook and league MVP and scoring champion SF Kevin Durant all on this roster… but the Suns are not owned by winners and all the wrong moves were made.  Ownership empowered a GM to trade a young James Harden to the Houston Rockets for not a whole lot in return.  Ownership later would back Russell Westbrook even though his ball-hogging ways was causing Kevin Durant to dream of jumping ship.  Ownership would then build a team around Russell Westbrook by adding Pg Chris Paul and when that didn’t work they added SF Paul George… all those combinations didn’t work.  All those players are gone and playing for better teams.  Kevin Durant got himself a few NBA Championship rings and Finals MVP awards… and the Thunder have an empty roster.  A roster of young players that will not be a part of the end of what is shaping up for a long rebuild.  The Thunder have a war chest of their own and many other future first round draft picks.  They are developing SG Josh Giddey (though they should be playing him at PG, but they aren’t owned by winners), they are wasting the early career of PG Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and they get to watch the inspiring play of undrafted player Lugentz Dort who hustles and plays defense and has the occasional big game. The Thunder will have many more 1st round picks join the fold over the next few years… they will have to pick a spot to trade some assets for a worthwhile win now player… but that is probably not this year.  When all the losing and drafting is done, the odds of the Thunder ever having a James Harden , Russell Westbrook, and Kevin Durant level of players together again is 10 million to one.  All this losing is for nothing.  Especially when you look down the Arena at the opposing bench and realize that the Warriors drafted Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, Klay Thomspon… all while they were actively trying to win!  See, it’s not about losing to get the best pick… it’s about having the best people make those picks.

The Golden State Warriors have won 9 of their last ten games.  They are on an 8-game winning streak at the moment.  They will roll into OKC having beaten their last 8 opponents by a combined 85 points!  That's 10.5 points per game on average.  Golden State is on a scoring roll.  They could be experiencing such an offensive explosion because they have the best offensive players in the league.  Steph, Klay, Andrew Wiggins, with Jordan Poole off the bench… That is pretty great.  The thing that makes the scoring so effective of course is that they are the 2nd best defensive team in the league… Kevon Looney, Draymond Green, and Otto Porter JR play defense… and any team with Draymond Green is going to have a defensive leader that affects every game!  The thing to watch with this team is the trade deadline on Thursday.  There has been plenty of chatter that goes both ways:  1) They have everything they need, and 2) they could add a star player to match the timeline that the Warriors veterans are on.  They have the pieces to make a very big deal happen.  Sources in San Francisco keep chatting about the nuclear option available to them if they want to beat the Phoenix Suns and restart the Golden State dynasty.  It’s a nuclear option that blows up the future but brings rings now.  It works like this:  SG Jordan Poole, SF Jonathan Kuminga, and C James Wiseman ( #1 pick of 2020, who has missed all season)… for an all-star center or power forward.  Any team missing the playoffs or stuck in neutral … umm the Indiana Pacers perhaps?, the Denver Nuggets? The Dallas Mavericks?.. Could drop a multiple time all-star or unicorn on the Warriors.  The result would be devastating to the rest of the league… the Warriors are also built with enough depth to make it work whether they get Domantas Sabonis or whoever in return.  The addition of 25 points and 11 rebounds on the frontline would hang banners for the next couple of years.  The key to this idea is finding a team that doesn’t need or want Andrew Wiggins to make the money work… that’s the only hard part… ummm Sabonis?  Still. It’s. Just. Chatter.

The Oklahoma City Thunder are an NBA team.  That is all they are right now.  They have won only 3 of their last ten games and that is a good stretch for them. For an idea of how bad they might be, they lost their last game to the Sacramento Kings 113 - 103.  A ten point loss to a team with no clear identity.  The Thunder’s best player and leading scorer is PG Shai Gilgeous-Alexander who will be on the sideline with an ankle injury for this one.  They did strike gold in the last draft when they took SG (who is playing out of position) Josh Giddey, who leads the team in assists (6.1) and rebounds (7.5).  The team is high on small forward Darius Bazley.. But his numbers don’t yet show us why 9.2 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 1.2 apg.  Those are numbers most random starting small forwards get or beat every game.  This is the problem with losing to get better draft picks.  Your new draft picks aren’t really measured in the context of winning… so even when they play well… you can never be sure if they are playing well.  Not to mention that Darius got almost 4 more points per game last season.  Are these winning points or just opportunity points?  If he was on a winning team would he even touch the court?  I happen to think Darius is a good player.  I also think that OKC will draft his replacement in the next 24 months and trade him away before he costs them real money.  The player to watch on the Thunder roster is the undrafted Luguentz Dort; his 16.8 ppg is achieved through sheer hustle and love for the game. Of course Luguentz missed the last game for a facial contusion and is Questionable for this one.  A thunder game without Sahi Gilgeous-Alexander and Luguentz Dort should be a cake walk for the Warriors.

WOW! Since December 1st, my picks have made an EYE-POPPING $28,152! It's a 64-34 all sports run after Saturday, where I finished up 4-1 overall (3-1-1 for some). All season long, I've CLOBBERED the NBA and am now on a DYNAMIC 14-4 run with totals! This one happens to be a GIANT 10*! Go get it! Get Will Rogers’ picks right now at the Shop Picks page, where you can find all of the Best Bets from our champion sports handicappers. NCAAF, NFL, MLB, college football… get positive value from all your bets! Expert picks!  Fun fact… winning a wager is much better than making a wager!

The Warriors are 40-13 on the season, but 29-21-3 ATS.  They have logged 21 Overs, 31 Unders, and 1 Push.  They are 15-9 in road games.

The Thunder are 17-35 on the season, but 32-18-2 ATS.  They have notched 21 Overs, 30 Unders, 1 Push.  They are a dismal 6-16 on their home court.

The Warriors are 12th in scoring with 110.9 ppg, 3rd in rebounds with 46.5 per game, and 12th in AST/TO ratio with 1.8. They are shooting 7th in FG%, 5th in 3PT%, and 19th in FT%.  They rank 2nd on defense while allowing 102.7 ppg from opponents.

The Thunder are 30th in scoring with 101 ppg, 6th in rebounds with 45.9 per game, and 27th in AST/TO ratio with 1.6.  They are shooting 30th in FG%, 30th in 3PT%, and 20th in FT%. On defense they are not terrible, where they rank 11th while allowing 107.4 ppg.  Of course if they are missing Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Luguentz Dort then they are missing two of their best defenders.

Our prediction for Monday, February 7th is….  Warriors 130 - Thunder 101

The Warriors will win and cover whatever spread they need to cover.  The only thing preventing this outcome is if Steve Kerr takes advantage of the weak competition and simply rests some of his veteran starters… or if a couple guys are pulled from the line-up to complete a “nuclear option” trade.

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The Thunder are 15-7 ATS as a home underdog this season.
The Warriors are 6-2 ATS versus OKC over the last 3 seasons.
The Warriors with Steve Kerr as the coach is 194-141 UNDER (+38.9 units) after games where the Warriors failed to cover the spread.
The Warriors are 7-0 on the UNDER after a division games this season.

Warriors: C James Wiseman (knee) Out ** PF Nemanja Bjelica (back) Out ** SF Otto Porter Jr (back) Quest ** PF Danny Green (calf) Out ** SG Andre Iguodala (hip) Out

Warriors: PF Moses Moody, SF Andrew Wiggins, C Kevon Looney, SG Klay Thompson, PG Stephen Curry

Thunder: SF Darius Bazley, PF Ty Jerome, C Mamadi Diakite, SG Josh Giddey, PG Tre Mann

Warriors

Points: Stephen Curry 25.9

Assists: Draymond Green 7.4

Rebounds: Kevon Looney 7.6

Steals: Stephen Curry 1.5

Blocks: Draymond Green 1.2

Thunder

Points: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander 22.7

Assists: Josh Giddey 6.1

Rebounds: Josh Giddey 7.5

Steals: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander 1.1

Blocks: Darius Bazley 1.2

Warriors: Steve Kerr

Thunder: Mark Daigenault