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Thunder favored big in Cleveland on Thursday
By: Zach Cohen - StatFox
Published: 3/20/2014  at  4:28:00 AM
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OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER (49-18)

at CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (26-42)

Tip-off: Thursday, 7:05 p.m. ET
Line: Oklahoma City -9.5, Total: 199.5

The Thunder go for their fourth win in five games when they visit the Cavaliers on Thursday night.

Oklahoma City has won three of its past four games with the most recent victory being a 97-85 win in Chicago on Monday. The Thunder have struggled to score the last two games though, averaging just 91.5 PPG, which is well below their 105.7 PPG on the season (5th in NBA). The Cavaliers, on the other hand, have lost two straight games and six of their past eight contests. They just lost star PG Kyrie Irving (biceps) for another couple of weeks and are averaging just 88.0 PPG over their past two contests while allowing 101.0 PPG. In the only meeting between these two teams on the season on Feb. 26, Cleveland defeated the Thunder on the road 114-104 despite being 14.5-point underdogs. The club shot 47% FG, 42% threes (11-of-26) and 96% FT (23-of-24) that night. Over the past three seasons, the Cavaliers are 3-1 (SU and ATS) in this series, and they won their last home contest against the Thunder by a score of 115-110. Over the past three seasons, Oklahoma City is 16-6 ATS when revenging a home loss versus an opponent, but Cleveland is 7-1 ATS this season after playing four consecutive games as an underdog. PG Russell Westbrook (rest) is questionable for the Thunder on Thursday, while SF Luol Deng (ankle) and Dion Waiters (hip) are also listed as questionable for the Cavs.

Can the Thunder win by double-digits on the road? For the answer, connect to The Platinum Sheet for all the Expert picks throughout the entire 2012-13 season. StatFox Dave has a strong 56% ATS (43-34-1) Best Bets record since Dec. 1, while StatFox Brian remains red-hot, going 60% ATS (24-16-1) since Jan. 25 and 57% ATS (39-30-1) in Best Bets since Dec. 12. StatFox Gary is also heating up with a 59% ATS mark (13-9) since Feb. 13, while StatFox Zach is on a 6-1 ATS run since March 9.

Oklahoma City is coming off of a 97-85 victory on the road against the Bulls in which SF Kevin Durant (31.8 PPG, 7.6 RPG, 5.5 APG) had 35 points, 12 rebounds and five assists in 42 minutes. In the last meeting with Cleveland, Durant had 28 points (10-of-16 FG), 10 rebounds and nine assists, but he didn’t get much help from his teammates. Durant will have a difficult matchup Thursday night if Luol Deng is able to play through his injury. PG Russell Westbrook (21.4 PPG, 7.2 APG, 5.8 RPG) had 24 points and nine assists in that game, and despite the Thunder's desire to sit him in back-to-back games, he should play after having three days to rest since the Bulls game. Westbrook had 17 points and nine rebounds in the win over Chicago. PF Serge Ibaka (15.2 PPG, 8.8 RPG, 2.6 BPG) was the only other player on the Thunder to score in double-digits against the Cavaliers, finishing with 16 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks. Cleveland will need another performance like that because without Kyrie Irving, the club will be playing through the post.

The Cavaliers have lost two straight games, including a 100-96 defeat at home to Miami on Tuesday. Without PG Kyrie Irving (biceps), backup PG Jarrett Jack (8.9 PPG, 3.9 APG) stepped up his game and finished with 22 points, four assists and four rebounds. SG Dion Waiters (14.5 PPG) did most of the primary ball-handling and he ended up with 17 points and 11 assists in the game. Cleveland will need more of that playmaking from Waiters for the rest of the season. In the win over the Thunder last meeting, C Spencer Hawes (13.5 PPG, 8.7 RPG, 1.2 BPG) was outstanding. He finished with 19 points and seven rebounds in 32 minutes of play. Hawes could really hurt the Thunder in this game, especially if they decide to go small with Serge Ibaka playing the center position. SF Luol Deng (16.6 PPG, 6.0 RPG) missed the game against Miami, but could give it a go in this one. He will need to be on his game defensively as he’ll be matched up against Kevin Durant.


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