Thunder minus 11 hosting 76ers (Circa)
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Lu Dort won’t play here for Oklahoma City. Those happen to be the Thunder’s top two scorers and best defensive player. Yet the Thunder still are a bargain even laying this many points.
How’s that?
Not only do the Thunder have perhaps the deepest roster in the NBA, but the 76ers will be without their three best players as Joel Embiid, Paul George and Tyrese Maxey are all out again.
Even being on the verge of clinching the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference with 14 games still to play, the Thunder have kept their focus and will to win. Oklahoma City has won 10 of its last 11 games. It has the best point spread mark in the NBA at 43-21-4, an amazing 67 percent.
The 76ers are due for a flat performance after consecutive strong games during the first two games of their road trip, which opened with an upset victory against the decimated Mavericks and taking the Rockets to overtime as huge underdogs. This marks Philadelphia’s third game in four days.
The Thunder haven’t played since Sunday. They won’t be in action again until Friday when they host the Hornets. Matchup-wise, the Thunder rank as the top defensive team in the league by a wide margin, while the 76ers are 25th in scoring.
Oklahoma City also has a league-best 18.4-point victory margin when playing at home. It actually is in the 76ers’ best interest to lose since their first round draft pick will go to the Thunder unless that pick falls among the bottom-six. The Raptors are just one-half game away from being tied with the 76ers for having the sixth-worst record in the league.
I am 12-5 on my last 17 premium/free NBA sides plays and 13-6-2 on my last 21 college basketball Max Unit plays. If you are interested in my sports service, please email me at scriber26@gmail.com, or message via X. All plays come with analysis and are emailed well ahead of game time.
Best of luck and no bad beats!
