Free NBA Pick: Trail Blazers vs. Thunder NBA Odds
Looking for Portland Trail Blazers vs. Oklahoma City Thunder free NBA picks & NBA Playoff odds? NBA betting sees the Blazers taking on the Thunder on Friday, April 19th, 2019 at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Cappers Picks provides complimentary expert handicapping picks on all NBA basketball matchups so stay tuned for more FREE daily NBA playoff hoops predictions like this Trail Blazers Thunder matchup.
2019 NBA Playoffs – Round 1
(2-0) Portland Trail Blazers vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (0-2)
Game 3
Date: Friday, April 19th, 2019
Time: 9:30PM EST
Venue: Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
NBA Moneyline Odds: off
NBA Betting Odds: Oklahoma City -7.5
NBA Betting Total: 221.5
Live NBA Odds
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So far this series, the Portland Trail Blazers have taken care of business. They’re 2-0 at home, but as the old cliche goes, a series doesn’t begin until a road team steals a game.
The Thunder are hoping to keep things chalk with a home win to start inching toward an eventually tied series.
These two tip off Friday night in the final NBA playoff game heading into the weekend.
Portland Trail Blazers
The Trail Blazers are clicking right now. Although Enes Kanter came back down to Earth in a big way on Tuesday going for just six points and five rebounds (2-of-5 shooting) and collecting four personal fouls in the process, Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum are having their best postseason showing to date as a tandem.
So far in these playoffs, Lillard has averaged 29.5 points, five assists and four rebounds per game while knocking down 47.4 of his 9.5 three-point shots per game.
McCollum is right there with him, posting 28.5 points, seven rebounds and four assists, all while shooting 7.0 deep balls per game and knocking down 42.9 percent of those looks.
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Where Portland needs to vastly improve is closing out on shooters. Quite frankly, the Blazers have gotten lucky up to this point that OKC isn’t connecting. This team is focusing so much on collapsing when either Paul George or Russell Westbrook attacks that they’re leaving shooters wide open.
Eventually, those shots are going to start falling, even if just from one or two players.
Portland can’t get comfortable conceding open looks just because they haven’t dropped—yet.
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Oklahoma City Thunder
Paul George has been able to find the bottom of the cup, but not at an efficient level, quite possibly due to his shoulder injury.
Although George did shoot a much better 55 percent from the field compared to Game 1 where he knocked down just 33.3 percent of his 24 shots, he still isn’t a reliable option from behind the three-point line.
In Game 1, George shot an atrocious 4-of-15 from deep, and while his percentage hardly increased in Game 2, at least you can say he was taking smarter shots, limiting himself to just 7 attempts from above the arc.
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When it comes down to it, this team just needs someone to start hitting long-range jumpers. If that’s George, it’s ideal, but it’s not necessary if he can continue to reduce his three balls and instead focus on getting better looks.
Maybe it’s Terrence Ferguson, who is someone the organization is hoping can be a long-term piece. Maybe it’s Markieff Morris, who while not being known as distance shooter can certainly spread the court as a big.
This team was never known for its shooting in the regular season, so it’s going to need someone to step up when it counts.
NBA Betting Trends:
- Over is 7-3 in OKC last 10 games as a favorite.
- Under is 9-4 in OKC last 13 home games.
- OKC are 9-19 ATS in their last 28 games overall.
- Under is 6-2-1 in POR last 9 road games.
- POR are 11-5 ATS in their last 16 road games.
- Under is 6-2 in the last 8 meetings
Free Portland Trail Blazers vs. Oklahoma City Thunder NBA Prediction: OKC takes care of business.
If you believe that a playoff series doesn’t begin until a road team wins—and you happen to be a Thunder fan—rest easy.
This series will have to wait another day to become official.
4* Free NBA Playoff Betting Pick: OKC ATS
A 7.5-point spread might sound high in favor of OKC considering the Trail Blazers are up 2-0 and are coming off a blowout victory, but the Blazers are also a very different team on the road. They’re going to need big games out of both Lillard and McCollum, but knowing adjustments are the name of the game this time of year, there’s a good chance we see Billy Donovan come out with an altered scheme to take the ball out of one of their hands.
As good as he’s been, that’s likely to be Lillard. And that will be even more important to the outcome of this game than whether or not the Thunder are shooting well from three (which, by the way, they should see moderate improvements back in front of their home crowd.)
No Lillard, no luck for Portland.
OKC gets this one big.
NBA Free Game 3 Score Prediction: Oklahoma City Thunder 122 – Portland Trail Blazers 108
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