Portland Trail Blazers vs Oklahoma City Thunder Prediction, Preview and Odds - 12/21/2022

Game Time: 8:00 pm ET, Wednesday, December 21, 2022

Venue:  Paycom Center, Oklahoma City, OK 

Where to Watch:  BSOK

DraftKings:  Point Spread:  Trail Blazers -4, Thunder +4; Over/Under:  234.5 points

Bet365:  Point Spread:  Trail Blazers -3.5, Thunder +3.5; Over/Under:  234.5 points

BetMGM:  Point Spread:  Trail Blazers -4, Thunder +4; Over/Under:  234.5 points

 

Portland Trail Blazers:  17-14 (2nd place, Northwest Division)

Oklahoma City Thunder:  13-18 (5th place, Northwest Division)

 

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Portland Trail Blazers:  6-4 last 10

Oklahoma City Thunder:  5-5 last 10

 

The Trail Blazers are coming into this game with a 17-14 record overall and they are 10-8 in their road games this season where they will be in this game. They are entering this game off of a loss against the Oklahoma City Thunder in their last game. Damian Lillard led the team in points in that game with 28 while Jerami Grant was next on the team with 26 points. Josh Hart and Damian Lillard each led the team in assists in that game with 6 while Jerami Grant and Josh Hart each led the team in rebounds with 8. They were 50% from the field, 43.2% from 3-point range, and 81% from the free throw line with their shots in that game. Their offense is averaging 112.6 PPG and their defense is allowing their opponents to average 112.1 PPG against them. The Trail Blazers have an ATS record of 20-11 this season and their O/U record is 15-14-2.

 

 

 

The Thunder are coming into this game with a 13-18 record overall and they are 8-7 in their home games this season where they will be in this game. They are entering this game on a 2 game winning streak with wins coming against the Memphis Grizzlies and the Portland Trail Blazers in their last game. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the team in points in that game with 35 while Jalen Williams and Luguentz Dort each were next on the team with 13 points. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the team in assists in that game with 6 while Jalen Williams led the team in rebounds with 7. They were 45.5% from the field, 35.5% from 3-point range, and 86.5% from the free throw line with their shots in that game. Their offense is averaging 115.5 PPG and their defense is allowing their opponents to average 117.1 PPG against them. The Thunder have an ATS record of 19-12 this season and their O/U record is 18-13.

The current betting odds have the Thunder listed as a 4 point underdog in this game according to Draftkings Sportsbook. The Thunder haven't been a great team this season as they still have one of the worst records in the Western Conference, but they have been a much better team than what they were last season and have improved a lot already. They are only 13-18 this season but they actually have a winning 8-7 home record this year and they have won 2 games in a row now against some pretty good teams like the Grizzlies and the Trail Blazers who they are playing here. They just beat the Trail Blazers the other night in a very close game and they will keep this game close again as they have been playing really well lately. The Trail Blazers are having a good season so far and have been a decent road team this year with a 10-8 road record but they have struggled in their road games lately and the Thunder just beat them so they will be looking for another big win in this game before they go on the road again. The best way to place a bet here is on the Thunder to cover the spread in this game.

 

Trail Blazers Thunder Prediction:  Our NBA Pick for Wednesday, December 21, 2022 (8:00 pm ET start time) is Thunder 119 Trail Blazers 117.

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Portland Trail Blazers: 16-24 ATS vs. division opponents. 8-1 OVER as a favorite of 3.5 to 9.5 points. 6-0 OVER vs. division opponents.

Oklahoma City Thunder: 17-8 ATS as an underdog. 19-12 ATS in all games. 11-3 OVER in a home game where the total is greater than or equal to 230.

 

 

Portland Trail Blazers:  J. Nurkic (C) Ques Wed - Calf. N. Little (SF) Mid Jan - Hip.

Oklahoma City Thunder:  D. Bazley (SF) Ques Wed - Illness. J. Giddey (SG) Ques Wed - Illness. O. Dieng (PF) Late Jan - Wrist. J. Robinson-Earl (PF) Out indefinitely - Ankle. C. Holmgren (C) out for season - Foot.

 

 

 

“He’s impressive. He’s obviously a really good player. Not just a good young player. He’s coming into his own. I can remember when I was younger and I became the leader of a team. And I was basically introducing myself as the lead guard on the team, and I was going after it, you know, being aggressive. And I see that he’s in that state. He’s trying to show what he can do.” - Damian Lillard on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander after their loss against the Thunder in their game on Monday.

 

 

“I caught it. I was going to try to face up, but I saw the double team so I tried to spin away from it into the shot.” - Shai Gilgeous-Alexander after their win against the Trail Blazers in their game on Monday.

 

 

 

PG Damian Lillard

SG Anfernee Simons

SF Josh Hart

PF Jerami Grant

C Drew Eubanks

 

PG Shai Gilgeous-Alexander 

SG Josh Giddey

SF Luguentz Dort 

PF Jalen Williams

C Mike Muscala

 

 

PPG: D. Lillard (28.3)

APG: D. Lillard (7)

Reb/G: J. Nurkic (9.9)

 

PPG: S. Gilgeous-Alexander (31.3)

APG: S. Gilgeous-Alexander (5.8)

Reb/G: J. Giddey (8.1)

 

Coaches:

Portland Trail Blazers: Chauncey Billups (2nd season)

Oklahoma City Thunder: Mark Daigneault (3rd season)