The Oklahoma City Thunder are firmly in the mix for a play-in tournament spot in the Western Conference, and they have a must-win matchup against the lowly Charlotte Hornets on Tuesday night.
Charlotte pulled off two upset wins over the Dallas Mavericks recently, helping the Thunder jump into the No. 10 seed, ahead of Dallas, in the process.
Now, OKC needs to pick up a win at home over a Hornets team that is just 12-27 on the road this season. Yes, the Thunder should win this game, but can they cover a double-digit spread in the process?
Let’s examine the odds and best bet to make in this game:
Hornets vs. Thunder odds, spread and total
Hornets vs. Thunder prediction and pick
While I do think the Thunder win this game, my best bet is coming on the UNDER.
Over the Hornets last 15 games, they have finished with 230 or fewer combined points in ALL 15 games!
That’s a crazy trend, and a lot of it has to do with Charlotte’s struggling offense, which ranks dead last in the league this season.
The Thunder (17th in offensive rating) aren’t a juggernaut, but this total is high because of OKC’s pace of play. The Thunder rank second in the NBA in pace while Charlotte ranks sixth.
Despite the expected fast pace, the Hornets are extremely inefficient with their opportunities this season, and OKC’s calling card has been on the defensive end, ranking 10th in defensive rating.
These two teams are 30th and 24th in the NBA in effective field goal percentage, so even if the pace is high, I don’t see both offenses having big enough games to push this game over.
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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.