Tip-off: Thursday, 10:35 p.m. ET
Line: Los Angeles -10.5, Total: 202

The Clippers open their 2014-15 campaign on Thursday night with a contest against the injury-riddled Thunder.

Oklahoma City looked great coming out of the gates in its season opener against Portland on Thursday night, outscoring its opponent 54-49 in the first half despite having a wealth of players out due to injuries. Unfortunately, the lack of depth caught up to the Thunder, as they were dominated in the fourth quarter by a score of 31-12 and absorbed a 106-89 loss as nine-point underdogs. The team shot a collective 40.7% from the field in the defeat, while PG Russell Westbrook (38 points, 6 assists, 3 rebounds, 3 steals) tried to do everything in his power to get a victory. Los Angeles feels its team is ready to compete, adding only a couple of veterans in PG Jordan Farmar and C Spencer Hawes in the offseason. Last season, the Clips were certainly one of the top teams in the NBA as they finished third in the Western Conference with a 57-25 record (70%) before losing a six-game series to the Thunder in the conference semifinals. That series brought Oklahoma City’s record against Los Angeles since the start of the 2012-13 season to 9-4 (both SU and ATS), including 5-2 SU (6-1 ATS) when playing at Staples Center over that time. These two teams play with high-tempo offenses and that showed in the playoffs as they averaged a total of 213.5 PPG in the six contests. As far as trends go, the Thunder are strong 25-16 ATS (61%) against Pacific Division opponents over the past two seasons while the Clippers are 14-6 ATS (70%) as a home favorite of 9.5 to 12 points in the same timeframe. Injuries will hurt OKC again as SF Kevin Durant (foot), PG Reggie Jackson (ankle) and SG Jeremy Lamb (back) will all miss this game, while PG Jordan Farmar (back) is questionable. PF Glen Davis (groin) is doubtful for the Clippers.

Can the Thunder keep the final margin to within single-digits in the Clippers' season opener? For the answer, connect to The Platinum Sheet for all the Expert picks throughout the entire 2014-15 season. StatFox Zach posted a 54% ATS mark (65-56-4) in NBA Best Bets last season, while StatFox Forecaster had a 53.4% ATS (207-181-12) in featured games last season. The experts are off to a flying start this season with a combined 67% ATS mark (8-4), including a perfect 7-0 ATS record on Wednesday night.

Oklahoma City was one of the league's top offenses last season in scoring 106.2 PPG (5th in NBA) and hitting on 47% of its shots (6th in league), but will obviously not be playing at that level with their top player Kevin Durant out. This was proven on Wednesday with 89 points in the season opener. PG Russell Westbrook took 26 shots in the loss while also going a solid 15-for-16 from the charity stripe. He has averaged 17.0 PPG (37% FG) with 6.0 APG, 4.9 RPG and 1.6 SPG over 22 career games (21 starts) against the Clippers. Behind Westbrook, PF Serge Ibaka (10 points, 8 rebounds, 4 blocks) is the next option on offense. But he went a mere 4-for-11 from the field on Thursday night and does not do well when depended on offensively. He’s always been solid against Los Angeles though, putting up 11.8 PPG (64% FG), 6.1 RPG and 1.8 BPG in his 18 career games (13 starts). Surprisingly, the third option in the opener was SF Lance Thomas (14 points, 3 rebounds) who made an efficient 7-of-10 shots as he looks to expand his offensive role with Durant out.

The Clippers lineup is filled with players that know how to score, as they posted a league-high 107.9 PPG in the 2013-14 campaign while making 47% FG (3rd in NBA). Their defense was actually not too bad as they allowed the 14th-fewest points (101.0 PPG) in the league. PG Chris Paul (19.1 PPG, 10.7 APG, 2.5 SPG last season) was the league leader in both assists and steals last season. He has been very solid with 18.2 PPG (47% FG), 9.9 APG and 2.6 SPG over his 30 career starts against Oklahoma City. PF Blake Griffin (24.1 PPG, 9.5 RPG last season) can be one of the most dominant players in the league at times, and he proved that in the Conference Semifinals against the Thunder when he scored 22 or more points in 5-of-6 games. Overall in his career against them (15 games), he has tallied 22.8 PPG (53% FG) and 10.1 RPG while also adding in 4.3 APG. C DeAndre Jordan (10.4 PPG, 13.6 RPG, 2.5 BPG last season) upped his offensive output last season while shooting a league-best 68% from the field. He averaged a double-double (11.8 PPG, 11.3 RPG) to go along with 1.8 BPG over four regular-season games against Oklahoma City last season, but struggled mightily when he met them in the playoffs (6.7 PPG, 9.5 RPG, 0.8 BPG, 21% FT). SGs Jamal Crawford (18.6 PPG last season) and J.J. Redick (15.2 PPG last season) will get plenty of chances to add to the offensive game once again this season.