Game Time: 10:30 PM ET, Friday, April 8th, 2022 

Venue:   Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, California

Where to Watch: NBA TV

DraftKings:  Spread:  Lakers -8; O/U 227.5

Fanduel:  Spread:  Lakers -8

BetMGM:  Spread: Lakers -7.5

Thunder: 24-56, 14th place Western Conference

Lakers: 31-48, 11th place Western Conference

An NBA Western Conference matchup of absolutely no consequence to anyone.  The great betting opportunity here is once again betting against the Lakers.  The Oklahoma City Thunder are not a good basketball team… They are deep in a rebuild and the team has more first round draft picks over the next five seasons then they have roster spots on the team.  Clearly they will need to make a few trades.  The Lakers have been eliminated mathematically from any chance for any postseason action.  The Los Angeles fans have turned on this version of the Lakers with great passion.  LeBron is being clowned in national and local media by the talking heads and the “callers”. They are being clowned on TV, radio, YouTube… and something my grandfather used to call “print media”.

The Thunder have won 4 of their last ten games.  They went 7-3 ATS during that stretch.  The Thunder have been awful all year and bettors have begun to see those great double digit spreads that Oklahoma City has been able to cover!  No one of any significance for the Thunder will be playing in this game.

The Los Angeles Lakers have won 2 of their last ten games.  They went 5-5 ATs during that stretch.  They are on a horrible 7-game losing streak (they will play Golden State before they play OKC so it may be 8 games).  Each and every time people have expected the L:akers to flip the switch and start playing “for real” they have failed.  No one of any significance for the Lakers will suit up against the Thunder.

Al McMordie's on a 22-8 basketball run, and is featuring a Triple Pack in the NBA on Thursday, which includes plays out of 91%, 80%, and 63% ATS angles. Get all 3 Winners right now, and get your broom ready for a 3-0 SWEEP! Go get 'em! Go get it!Get Big Al’s Sports picks!   You can discover the best  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!

OKC is 24-56 on the season, but 48-28-4 ATS (great betting opportunity all year).  They have logged 38 Overs, 40 Unders, and 2 Push.  They are 12-27 on the road.

Los Angeles is 31-48 on the season, but 33-45-1 ATS (bad betting opportunity all year).  They have notched 44 Overs, 34 Unders, and 1 Push.  They are 20-20 in home games. 

Our prediction for Friday, April 8th is…..  Thunder 118 - Lakers 110

Both teams will be fielding the G-League equivalent.  In the Oklahoma City Thunder’s case they will be sitting everyone of any consequence the rest of the way. In the Laker’s case after LeBron and AD there simply is no one of any consequence left.  This game becomes incredibly difficult to call since there are no players on the floor that contributed in any meaningful way to the accumulated stats.  What we do know about a matchup like this is the Thunder has the advantage. Thunder players have already been playing in the absence of their best few players… They are used to it and they have won 2 of their last 3 games.  

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OKC is 63-44 ATS versus the Lakers since 1996.
OKC is 30-20 ATS versus Lakers at Los Angeles since 1996.
3 of 4 games in this series at Los Angeles have gone Over the last 3 seasons.

Thunder:  Tre Mann, Darius Bazley, Kenrich Williams, Derrick Favors, Shai Gilgeous Alexander, Josh Giddey, Lugentz Dort, Mike Muscala, Ty Jerome… are all out for the last couple games of the season.

Lakers: PF Anthony Davis, SG Russell Westbrook, SF LeBron James, PG Kendrick Nunn are all out with little chance of playing again this season.

Thunder: F Jaylen Hoard, F Georgios Kalaitzakis, C Isaiah Roby, G Zavier Simpson, G Vit Krejci

Lakers: F Stanley Johnson, F Malik Monk, C Dwight Howard, G Austin Reeves, G Avery Bradley

Thunder: Mark Daigenault

Lakers: Frank “Dead Man Walking” Vogel