Los Angeles Clippers @ Oklahoma City Thunder – Wednesday, November 21

Why Los Angeles Will Win

No college football betting expert would deny the contention that the Clippers are playing some of the very best basketball in the NBA at the moment. When you go over your next bookmaker review, you will find it difficult to argue with the following contention: If you wanted to pick a quartet of elite teams in the NBA at the moment, the consensus choice would probably be the Los Angeles Clippers, Memphis Grizzlies, Miami Heat, and New York Knicks.

The Clippers would probably fourth in that group, but they would be part of the conversation. The Clippers have already made several authoritative statements this season, whipping the San Antonio Spurs twice, then the Heat, and also the Chicago Bulls in the first three weeks of competition. Those performances have caught the attention of basketball analysts throughout the country, and while they are somewhat surprising, one can see why the Clippers are coming together.

For one thing, big man DeAndre Jordan has done a lot of good work in the off-season, ripening into one of the better big men in the league and one of the NBA’s most improved players. Jordan has been able to develop in part because he is surrounded by many veteran faces on the Clips’ roster. Los Angeles offers a fascinating mixture of late-thirtysomething and early-twentysomething players who can learn so much from each other in the locker room and on the practice court. The Clippers have great chemistry and unity, and that’s precisely the kind of team-wide mood that should help Los Angeles on Oklahoma City’s home court.

Why Oklahoma City Will Win

When people pursue a sports betting play, they rely on the percentages, and the odds here suggest that the Thunder will be able to turn back the Clippers.

Online football betting gurus know that the University of Oklahoma is a proud football school. This game will be emotional for reasons other than football… but reasons connected to the University of Oklahoma. Blake Griffin, the former OU basketball star who led the Sooners to the Elite Eight in the 2009 NCAA Tournament, will come back to the state where he went to college. The home folks in Oklahoma City are going to receive him warmly… and they’ll also want their hometown team to beat him and the Clippers.

Los Angeles did finish off an imposing road win over the San Antonio Spurs on Monday night, pulling off a 92-87 ambush, but after that emotionally draining game, will the Clips – and Griffin in particular – have the mental reserves needed to overtake a massively talented and quick Oklahoma City squad? It isn’t very likely. Griffin is going to face a severe psychological challenge in this game. The Clippers can’t be expected to be at their very best.

Who Will Win?

The Clippers will put up a fight, but Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are going to be too much in the fourth quarter. Pick the Thunder here.

NBA Betting Pick: Oklahoma City

Save