Blazers Listed as Slight -115 Favorites in Series vs Thunder After Dropping Game 3
- It got ugly as the Oklahoma City Thunder finally won in Game 3 of their NBA first-round playoff series with the Portland Trail Blazers
- The game was punctuated with trash talking, showboating and confrontations between players
- The Blazers are still listed as slight favorites to win the series
It’s no secret that the Portland Trail Blazers and Oklahoma City Thunder don’t like each other. But that distaste for one another got amped even more during Game 3 of the NBA playoff series between these two Western Conference clubs.
Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook, ever the agitator, mocked Portland’s Damian Lillard with his now-infamous rocking the baby pose.
The Thunder’s Paul George touched off some jawing at the conclusion of Oklahoma City’s 120-108 win when he threw down an authortative dunk at the buzzer.
On Paul George's reverse dunk at the end of GM3
George: Next Question.
Damian Lillard: I couldn't care less. The game had been decided and if that's something they needed to do to make themselves feel more dominant or better, so be it. pic.twitter.com/PKByvGDSxe— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) April 20, 2019
Regardless, the Trail Blazers still lead the series 2-1 and maintain the confidence of the sportsbooks, albeit by a very close margin.
Oklahoma City Thunder vs Portland Trail Blazers Series Odds
| Teams | Odds |
|---|---|
| Oklahoma City Thunder | -105 |
| Portland Trail Blazers | -115 |
*Odds taken April 21
Oklahoma City was listed at +210 to win the series after losing the first two games. Portland hasn’t won a playoff series since the opening round of the 2015-16 playoffs.
Bad Blood Is Nothing New
It generally takes a playoff series to create a rivalry between two teams. All this series is doing is pouring gasoline on an already-fiery relationship between Portland and Oklahoma City.
The main antagonists who tend to light the fuse are Westbrook and George for the Thunder and Lillard and Jusuf Nurkic for the Trail Blazers.
The players insist it’s not a heated rilvarly but merely two teams that are ultra-competitive and like to play a physical brand of basketball. It’s a clash of two teams filled with alpha males and type A personalities.
Lillard and Westbrook going at it is great pic.twitter.com/HrQMF8sk7F
— Hoops (@HoopMixOnly) April 20, 2019
Whatever the case, it makes for compelling basketball.
Thunder Shook Loose
After hitting just 10 of their 63 three-point attempts over the first two games – just 16.2% – Oklahoma City found the range in Game 3.
The Thunder scored 45 points from beyond the arc, above their season average of 32.6 points per game. They shot 51.7% on their threes.
Westbrook wanted all the smoke tonight ? pic.twitter.com/4QWbJujR1h
— ESPN (@espn) April 20, 2019
Westbrook netted 33 points. George added 22, a 14-of-17 performance from the free-throw line overcoming a 3-for-16 effort from the field.
A sloppy second quarter saw Portland commit 12 fouls and turn the ball over 10 times. For the game, the Trail Blazers made 18 turnovers leading to 18 Thunder points, more than enough to create the difference in the final score.
Will Dame Fortune Shine On Blazers?
Three games in. Three wins for the home team. If that pattern holds, advantage Portland.
The Trail Blazers own home-court advantage as the no. 3 seed and opened with consecutive wins, an impressive performance considering Portland lost all four regular-season games to Oklahoma City.
Damian Lillard recorded 25 points in the 3rd quarter Friday. The last player with 25+ PTS in a #NBAPlayoffs quarter was Allen Iverson (26) on June 1, 2001. pic.twitter.com/31TGgJaLlJ
— NBA.com/Stats (@nbastats) April 20, 2019
Lillard has scored 35.3 PPG in his last four against the Thunder. He got loose for 25 third-quarter points in Game 3, singlehandedly pulling Portland back into the contest.
He’s the difference here, the reason why you go with the Blazers and that slight edge.
An industry veteran, Bob literally taught the course on the history of sports at Elder College. He has worked as a Sports Columnist for Postmedia, appeared as a guest on several radio stations, was the Vice President of the Society For International Hockey Research in Ontario, and written 25 books.
