Oklahoma City Thunder at L.A. Lakers Betting Odds


Opening Betting Lines: Thunder +6 / Lakers -6 O/U 193.5

Time: 10:30 PM EST Tuesday April 27, 2010 on TNT

This best of 7 Western Conference opening round series is tied at 2 games apiece.

Tonight in La La Land in an all-important Game 5 the defending champion L.A. Lakers host the Oklahoma City Thunder. Nobody gave the Thunder much of a chance in this series, but they won the last 2 games at home to tie this series.

This season the Lakers were 37-5 at home and 34-46-2 ATS and the Thunder were 23-18 on the road and 48-34 ATS.

In Game 4 the Lakers were crushed by the Thunder 110-89 on Saturday night.

History is on the side of the Lakers, as in Game 5’s at home when the series is tied at 2-2 L.A. is 17-0.

Kobe Bryant has to play better than he did in the 2 games in Oklahoma City, as in Game 3 he had 24 points, but was only 2/10 in the 4th quarter and in Game 4 he only had 12 points. He only took 10 shots in the game and even though he tried to get Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol more involved he has give the Lakers more offense in tonight’s game.

In Game 4 the Lakers were schooled even though shot a higher FG%, but only shot 4/22 from beyond the 3-point arc, were out-rebounded, and had more turnovers.

The Lakers need to get back on D in this game against a fast-breaking Thunder squad. In Game 4 the Thunder had 24 points off the break while the Lakers only had 2. The Lakers are a much better half court team and if they can slow the tempo in the game they have a HUGE advantage.

Kevin Durant has had a big series and he will get his points, but the Lakers have to keep him off the boards and not allow him to dominate on the defensive end of the floor.

All the pressure is on the Lakers in this game, as they are expected to win as the conference’s top-seed. Including the regular season the Lakers have lost their last 3 games in Oklahoma City so this game is almost a must win game.

Betting Trends

The Thunder are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games, 10-4 ATS in their last 14 games as an underdog, and has an Over record of 7-2 in their last 9 road games.

L.A. is 1-4 ATS in their last 5 home games, 1-6 ATS in their last 7 games, and have an Under record of 7-1 in their last 8 road games.

The Thunder are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games against the Lakers and in the last 5 games between these 2 teams in L.A. the total has gone Under 4 times.

Our Selection : The home team has won all 4 in this series and the word on the street is that Kobe is feeling better, so I do expect him to pick up his scoring after registering only 12 points in his last. That being said, I think the Thunder are a very confident team after back to back home wins. I believe they'll give the Lakers all they can handle in this game and maybe more. Take the Thunder +6.5 at SportsInteraction.


Future Betting Odds

NBA Handicapping

Dallas Mavericks at Miami Heat Odds 6-12
The Mavs are up 3-2 in this series heading to South Beach and for the Heat to force Game 7 they will have to play better in the 4th quarter, especially LeBron James. 5Dimes has the hometown Heat as 5-point favorites in Game 6 with a total of 187.

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