NBA Picks

NBA Betting Trends

NBA – January 11th

The struggling Los Angeles Lakers come back home to the Staples Center for some great NBA betting action to kick off your weekend, as they take on the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday night.

The Thunder just continue to roll. Yes, they were beaten a few nights ago on the road by the Washington Wizards, arguably the worst team in the league, but there are worse things that have happened to great teams. This is still one of the best clubs in the league at 27-8, and the team still has one of the best ATS marks in the NBA as well at 21-13-1. Through 35 games, it is clear that F Kevin Durant is going to once again challenge for the scoring title. He’s not in the catbird seat right now, averaging 28.1 points per game, but there is no shame in that state. G Russell Westbrook is averaging 21.8 points and 8.5 assists per game, while both F Serge Ibaka and G Kevin Martin are combining for almost 30 points per game between them. The rest of the club is still relatively weak, but when you’ve got a core of players like this, it’s really tough to argue with just how good OKC really is.

The Lakers continue to be a mess. G Kobe Bryant is struggling mightily playing in the small forward spot instead of the shooting guard spot, and F Metta World Peace is proving that he isn’t a power forward. C Dwight Howard is still out of the lineup, as too are C Jordan Hill and F Pau Gasol. G Darius Miller has been starting, as too, has C Robert Sacre, and we’re not all that sure that either man should really be in the NBA, let alone starting for a team that has its sights set on the NBA Finals this year. The team has lost five games in a row and is sliding for sure, though at least a 108-105 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night ended a four-game coverless streak. The Lakers are currently in 11th place in the Western Conference, and they have 4.5 games and three teams to hop to get up to the Portland Trail Blazers, who are currently sitting in the eighth and final playoff spot as we near the halfway point of the season.

Prediction:

What justification is there for backing the Lakers right now? They were beaten by six in a game that only got close thanks to a fourth quarter rally a month ago at Chesapeake Energy Arena, and that came with a relatively healthy team. Now, the club is banged up, playing without Howard or Hill (Gasol missed that game), and the end result probably isn’t going to be pretty. Oklahoma City 110 – Los Angeles 100