Currently 10th in the Western Conference and holding onto a tenuous half-game lead for the final play-in spot, Oklahoma City needs wins. Fortunately for them, their next three opponents will be Charlotte, Detroit and Indiana (i.e. the three worst teams from the Eastern Conference).
But even though OKC is 17-10 ATS vs. the East this season, I’m not sure I’d want to lay this many points. I certainly do expect the Thunder to put a decent number of points on the board, however. When they’re at home, they average 121.1 PPG this season.
Sunday night, the Thunder scored 118 in a win at Portland. It probably should have been more but scoring in that game slowed way down in the 4Q.
As for Charlotte, they are due for an uptick in scoring after their last five games have all stayed Under. They’re averaging just 104 points over that five-game stretch, which is well below their season average of 111.1 points/game.
In my view, these teams should have no problem combining for 230+ points. They combined for 234 in the first meeting of the season, back in December. 10*