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The Oklahoma City Thunder are ready to re-stake their claim in the Western Conference, with or without Kevin Durant. Oklahoma City added Paul George and Carmelo Anthony to the equation this offseason and will be looking to compete with Golden State for the top spot in the West. OKC is going to open its season, hosting Anthony’s former team, the New York Knicks. The Knicks have posted four straight losing seasons and fans in the Big Apple are ready for this team to turn it around.
Don’t miss the hardwood action from Chesapeake Energy Arena at 8 p.m. ET on Thursday, October 19, 2017. Catch every moment of the game live on TNT. We’ll have NBA opening odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the NBA Thursday schedule.
Odds Analysis
Oklahoma City should be a decent-sized favorite here. The Thunder are going to be one of everyone’s favorite teams with their own version of a Big Three and a good coach in Billy Donovan.
This will likely be another rebuilding season for the Knicks. The good news is that Kristaps Porzingis is still on the roster and the franchise can build around him now. However, there isn’t much else if rookie Frank Ntilikina doesn’t play well as a rookie.
Player to Watch
This is all about Melo. In an opening week filled with intrigue, watching Anthony compete against his former team in the opener is one of the many highlights. Melo has long been a star-crossed superstar. There’s no denying he is one of the best players in the NBA, but the Knicks have not been able to build a quality team around him and he clashed with management in New York.
He was a perennial All-Star in New York and led this team to the postseason in his first few years, but things changed when Phil Jackson got there and it was not a good match between the player and the Zen Master.
Anthony has a chance to finally be on a winner with this team. It will be interesting to see how he gels with the unit and how he performs with Kristaps Porzingis guarding him.
Keep an Eye On…
The one thing to watch with the Thunder is how they handle playing as a team. There is only one ball to go around and Anthony and Russell Westbrook both love to have the ball in their hands.
Westbrook became the first player to average a triple-double since 1962 last season in large part because of how much he held the ball. He held on to the ball more than any other player in the NBA last season, averaging 99.5 touches a game.
Anthony and George held on to the ball for a prodigious amount of time as well. It wasn’t as much as Westbrook, but there are concerns about whether or not this team will be able to mesh well together at first. They can be great if they put aside their egos and work together. However, things can go south in a hurry if they start to in-fight for the ball.
Free NBA ATS Picks
Porzingis is one of the most intriguing talents in the league right now. He wasn’t fully unleashed with Anthony on the roster and now he will get the chance to take over. There are only a couple seven-footers in the league with the shooting range and the defense that Porzingis has and he has all the making of a potential superstar.
Take the Knicks as a sizeable underdog in this one. Oklahoma City is going to have a lot of issues to work out, and it doesn’t have the bench it used to after trading Enes Kanter and Doug McDermott away for Anthony. Don’t be surprised if the Knicks get an upset win either.
NBA Odds: Thunder 108 – Knicks 104
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