The Russell Westbrook Show travels on, this time stopping in Portland. Westbrook and his Oklahoma State Thunder team will look to pull out a crucial road victory this week against the Portland Trail Blazers.
Westbrook has played so well this season that he’s among the front-runners in the NBA discussion, and has helped keep the team significantly above .500. The Trail Blazers are in the hunt for the playoffs and would be well-served to pull out this win.
At 10:30 p.m. ET, tune into ESPN for live television coverage of this NBA basketball game on Tuesday, December 13, 2016, at Moda Center.
We'll have NBA odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the NBA Tuesday schedule.
Odds Analysis
The Thunder is 15-9 straight up and 12-12 against the spread this season. Oklahoma City has covered in four of nine games on the road this year.
The Trail Blazers are 12-13 straight up but have underperformed projections with a 9-16 record against the spread. Portland has covered four times out of 11 at home and hopes to start living up to the expectations moving forward.
Player to Watch
Russell Westbrook – The Thunder’s point guard has been absolutely on fire as of late, recording seven triple doubles since November 25th. Oklahoma City has gone 7-1 in that stretch as he dominates the competition.
With the departure of Kevin Durant to the Warriors, Westbrook has been forced to carry the load for the Thunder and he has certainly answered the call. Westbrook’s numbers are ridiculous this season.
He is averaging 30.9 points, 11.3 assists and 10.8 rebounds on the season, and may do the unthinkable and average a triple double over the course of a season. Without the need to share the ball with Durant, Westbrook has excelled and has kept the Oklahoma City team within the best teams in the NBA.
It’s been a remarkable season and he will aim to continue it against Portland.
Key Stat
30. That’s how many points Portland has scored in the fourth quarters of the last two games combined. The offense's inability to keep the team competitive late has resulted in three straight losses.
In Portland’s loss to the Pacers on December 10th, the Trail Blazers blew a late lead and were outscored 28-13 in the fourth quarter, resulting in a 118-11 loss. Portland’s offense is averaging 109.2 points a game, ranking sixth in the league right now, but the team has to get better at closing out games.
Free NBA ATS Pick
Both teams are led by star point guards as Damian Lillard is the player who is the engine behind the Trail Blazers, averaging nearly 28 points per game. Portland had high hopes entering the season but has not lived up to the expectations as it sits under .500 on the year.
The Trail Blazers seem likely to make the playoffs, but they certainly don’t want to finish as the No. 8 seed, which is where they currently sit, as that could mean a matchup with the Golden State Warriors in the opening round.
Portland and Oklahoma City has similar roster makeups and are in the same tier in the West, so this is a critical game for both. The Thunder have done a nice job moving on after Durant, in large part because Westbrook has been so excellent.
He will look to keep it up in this one, and he certainly should be able to against the Trail Blazers. However, Portland has enough balance and the home court advantage, which will result in a tight victory.
Lillard needs to play well and the belief is he will get his points as well in an entertaining matchup of elite point guards.
NBA Odds: Trail Blazers 114, Thunder 112
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