Oklahoma City Thunder at Los Angeles Lakers 2011 NBA Preview, Odds, and Predictions: NBA leading scorer Kevin Durant will lead the Oklahoma City Thunder on the road to the Staples Center to take on Kobe Bryant and his Los Angeles Lakers on Monday night at 10:30 PM ET on TNT Sports. The Thunder enter the game with 4 wins in a row at 27-13 1st in the Northwest while the Lakers have lost one and come in at 30-12 good for 1st in the Pacific. The Thunder is 7-0 on National TV this season and have been off since last Thursday’s win. “Everybody gets up, I guess, for playing on TV. It’s always fun,” said Durant, who is averaging 32.8 points on national TV this season – 4.5 points higher than his NBA-leading average. “We only had two or three last year, so to have as many as we have now is a blessing and we just try to have a good showing.” The Lakers have won 5 in a row at home if you discount the road game against the Clippers at the Staples Center they lost on Saturday. “We just didn’t put up much of a fight,” said Bryant, who averaged 23.5 points against the Thunder in last season’s playoffs. The odds makers at Bodog have the Los Angeles Lakers a -4 point favorite at home against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Lakers lost 99-92 to the Clippers at the Staples Center in what was technically a road game and are 18-24 ATS for the season. Shooting guard Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 27 points 9 rebounds and 5 assists while Andrew Bynum added 18 points and 13 boards starting at center. Forwards Pau Gasol added 13 points and 8 boards while Ron Artest chipped in 10 points and 4 rebounds. LA Lakers are 16-3 SU in their last 19 games when playing Oklahoma City. Vegas odds makers have the Los Angeles Lakers +200 to win the 2010-2011 NBA Championship.
The Thunders winning streak continued at home 125-124 over the Orlando Magic recently moving them to 22-18 ATS for the season. Kevin Durant led Oklahoma City with 36 points while point guard Russell Westbrook had a triple double with 32 points 10 rebounds and 13 assists. The total has gone UNDER in 4 of last 6 games when playing on the road against LA Lakers. Vegas odds makers have the over/under for the total score at 203 points combined of the Los Angeles Lakers and Oklahoma City Thunder.
I predict a Laker win at home.
Note: Rich Fritz is a Blog Writer on NSAwins.com and not a pro handicapper. For expert NFL Football Predictions against the Vegas spreads please visit the NSAwins.com homepage for top predictions today from the National Sports Advisors.