NBA Betting – Oklahoma City Thunder at Phoenix Suns

Oklahoma City Thunder (-5) at Phoenix Suns

The Oklahoma City Thunder (32-25, 13-17 road) are aiming for their eighth win a row tonight against the new-look Phoenix Suns (30-28, 16-12 home) at the US Airways Center (10:30 p.m. Eastern).

Tonight’s game will be the third meeting between these two sides this year; OKC is currently 2-0, including a 137-134 OT win on New Year’s Eve.

That night, reigning NBA MVP Kevin Durant scored 44 points. Unfortunately for the Thunder, “KD” is out again after needing surgery on his foot.

The good news for OKC is that the team seems to be used to playing without their star.  Since January 19, Durant has missed 13 games, yet the Thunder have gone 9-4 in those contests.  Their solid play of late has moved OKC past Phoenix for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Of course, that reversal has as much to do with the Suns’ recent downturn; Phoenix has lost eight of its last ten games and are really struggling at the defensive end of the floor (allowing at least 110 points in four of the last five).

The Suns currently have the third-worst defense in the league (allowing 105.2 points per game on the year) and will have their hands full trying to contain Russell Westbrook tonight. (The Thunder guard has raised his game in the absence of Durant, leading OKC in points, steals, and assists and sitting just behind Houston’s James Harden in the race for the NBA scoring title.)

There is some reason for optimism in Phoenix, though, as the Suns were able to down Denver in their last outing (110-96) and newly acquired point guard Brandon Knight looked more comfortable in the offense, scoring 19 points and adding six assists.

The Thunder – who are 3-2 ATS in their last five visits to the US Airways Center – are five-point favorites at the moment.

(Photo credit: Keith Allison (flickr) [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode]. Photo has been cropped.)