Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Brooklyn Nets Prediction, Preview, Picks & Odds - 1/13/2022

Time: 8:30 p.m. ET

Venue: Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY

Where to watch: YES, BSOK

DraftKings: Nets -10

BetMGM: Nets -10.5

Caesars: NL

Nets: 26-14 (2nd place, Eastern Conference)

Thunder: 13-27 (14th place, Western Conference)

Thunder: lost five straight; lost 122-118 at Wizards on Tuesday

Nets: won 138-112 at Bulls on Wednesday

I want to. I really want to. If anything, I want to with the points.

But I can’t help but feel the Brooklyn Nets will put their recent struggles aside for one game and defeat the Oklahoma City Thunder at Barclays on Thursday because the law just makes it so.

Ever since that L.A. trip on Christmas weekend that was dominated by James Harden, the Nets have dropped five of seven. More notably, the Nets are on this slide since Kevin Durant -- and eventually Kyrie Irving -- returned to the lineup.

Irving can only return for road games due to the state of New York’s vaccine requirement, so he did play Wednesday against the Chicago Bulls. He, however, will not be in the lineup against the Thunder, nor Saturday’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans.

I’m not saying that Irving’s rotation in and out of the lineup is the biggest reason why the Nets are struggling, but it is curious that Steve Nash having to go with different lineups because Brooklyn was desperate to have healthy bodies available may be causing some inconsistencies.

The Nets may have had their worst loss of this stretch on Monday in a 114-108 loss to the shorthanded Portland Trail Blazers. Without Damian Lillard, C.J. McCollum and others, the Nets allowed 114 points and lost despite Durant going for 28 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. Irving finished with 22 points but went 9 of 21 to get there.

Harden wasn’t available due to a knee injury and his status could be up in the air. Cam Thomas scored 21 points in 26 minutes off the bench to alleviate some of the scoring strain, but the Nets still found a way to lose.

"Second half, they hit 3s in that third quarter, they hit 3s in that fourth quarter. You gotta give them credit for knocking down shots but I thought we were there, intentions were good," Durant said. "We've just got to finish it a little better, finish plays a little better."

But boy, did they ever rebound against the scorching Bulls, putting up 138 points in the victroy. Durant and harden combined for 52 points.

Going against a team that’s lost five straight and seven of eight could be one way to finish plays better. It also helps Durant for extra motivation by going back to his original team. The Thunder lost Tuesday at the Washington Wizards, 122-118, despite Shai Gilgeous-Alexander going off for 32 points and eight assists.

The Thunder may be on this stretch of losing but at least games have been competitive; losing to four against the Denver Nuggets at home, and then that close loss to the Wizards. Oklahoma City has surely been competitive, but the star power even with Irving out of the lineup is going to help tremendously.

You really have the greater of two evils staring in front of you, but there’s no reason why the Nets should lose this game. Nets by 10

The Thunder are 53-31 ATS on the road over the past three seasons.

The Thunder are 25-10 ATS in January over the past three seasons.

The Nets are 3-16 ATS as a home favorite this season.

The Nets are 24-7 straight up the past three seasons when a home favorite of 6.5 to 12 points.

PG: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

SG: Luguentz Dort
SF: Josh Giddey
PF: Jeremiah Robinson-Earl
C: Derrick Favors

PG: James Harden

SG: Cam Thomas
SF: Kessler Edwards
PF: Kevin Durant
C: Nic Claxton

Key injuries

Thunder: None

Nets: Kyrie Irving (COVID, out), LaMarcus Aldridge (foot, out), Joe Harris (ankle, out)