NBA Betting – Oklahoma City Thunder vs Golden State Warriors

Oklahoma City Thunder at Golden State Warriors (-2.5, 210.5 o/u)

The Memphis Grizzlies put an end to the Golden State Warriors’ 16-game win streak last Tuesday (105-98). Now the Warriors will try to bounce back at home when they face the Oklahoma City Thunder tonight at Oracle Arena (7:30 p.m. Eastern).

The Warriors still have the best record in the league, 21-3, despite losing their last game.

“We understand it was a nice run and something the franchise has never done before,” Golden State star Stephen Curry said. “It’s put us in a good position to take a tough loss like we did tonight and keep moving. We’ll be all right. It was fun while it lasted.”

The Warriors are in the top seven of the league in offense (second, with 107.6 PPG), rebounds (fourth, with 45.7 RPG), assists (fourth, with 25.3 APG), and defense (seventh, allowing only 96.8). However, tonight they’ll be facing a red-hot Thunder team that is back at full strength.

The Thunder defeated the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday night (104-92), and they are now second in the Northwest division with a 12-13 record. They have won seven of eight games in December with stars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook back in the lineup.

The defense played well while the stars were out, and that trend has continued since Durant and Westbrook returned. The Thunder allow only 93.1 PPG and pull down almost as many boards as the lengthy Warriors (45.1 RPG).

Oklahoma City has won seven of the last ten games against the Golden State Warriors, but this will be the first time these teams meet this season.  The Warriors are currently 2.5-point favorites in the odds, and the over/under is at 210.5.  With the Thunder defense on top of its game, the under could be worth a look.

(Photo credit: Keith Allison from Owings Mills, USA (Kevin Durant) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons. Photo may appear cropped.)