NBA: LA Clippers vs. OKC Thunder Preview, Odds, Prediction

The LA Clippers continue their tour through the west as they visit Oklahoma City Thunder. Tyronn Lue’s crew has two wins and one loss for the moment and is coming off a loss at home to the Phoenix Suns in LA. It was an unpleasant experience for the Clips, who will try to recover as fast as possible. There isn’t a better chance for them than the upcoming, with the weakest team in the league awaiting them on the opposite side of the court. OKC Thunder will probably spend one more year in a rebuild, looking for high draft picks and they won’t have a competitive unit. 

Preview

LA Clippers (2-1,-475) beat the Lakers and the Kings in the opening two events before getting whooped at home to the Suns, 112-95. This was a very uncomfortable defeat against one of the top contenders for the title and direct rivals for the same, which was why the fans left the arena pretty disappointed. 

Once again, LAC had a one-digit number of threes hit, only nine in 32 attempts, which is something they didn’t experience in the past. Let us remind you that this unit had one of the better shooting percentages in the previous campaigns. 

Marcus Morris Sr. had 22 points, John Wall 17 off the bench, and Paul Geroge scored 16. PG isn’t available for the upcoming game due to his injury, and some of the fans are already questioning his ability to play at the level he did before.

OKC Thunder (0-3, +370) has all three losses, in which they allowed at least 115 points. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to see that this unit is the weakest in the league. Even with Holmgren, OKC wouldn’t do anything notable.

After back-to-back defeats on the road, in Minneapolis, 115-108, and Denver, 122-117, the Thunder suffered a loss at home against the T-Wolves, 116-106. In all three games, we didn’t see OKC having enough composure, probably because they lack proper physicality, especially in the later stages of the contest.

Just 22% of shooting from deep with 54 boards allowed are the two top reasons for this defeat. Also, we must say that the T-Wolves shot 52.3% from the field, reflecting OKC’s terrible defense. Lugentz Dort had 20 points, and Jeremiah Robinson added 15, while Eugene Omoruyi scored 13 off the bench in 12 minutes. We have to say that OKC’s best player, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, won’t play due to an injury. Like with George, the fans are fed up with his injuries as well. 

Prediction

Clippers will win this event, only we don’t believe that the guests from LA are going to cover a 10-point spread, which is the current margin with the bookmakers. Lue will rotate a lot, as he does in the recent games, which could give the hosts a chance to get away with an honorable loss. Plus, OKC plays at home, which should be a boost to resist the LAC better. The Thunder should cover the spread if they play like against the Nuggets in Colorado. Here we have the odds set at -110.

Pick: OKC +9 -110