The Oklahoma City Thunder will pay a visit to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse to take on the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday night. With that said, it’s a good time to check out our NBA odds series, which includes our Thunder-Cavaliers prediction, odds, and pick we have laid out below.
The Oklahoma City Thunder are in the midst of a 4-game losing streak, which began with a 107-102 loss to these same Cavaliers on January 15th. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the way for OKC in that game with 21 points, four rebounds, and seven assists, while, Darius Bazley and Lu Dort contributed 17 points each. Their most recent two losses were blowouts to the San Antonio Spurs and the Charlotte Hornets.
Meanwhile, the Cavaliers saw their 5-game winning streak come to a halt after losing to the Chicago Bulls, 117-104, on Wednesday night. Lauri Markkanen led the way for Cleveland and dropped a season-high 28 points against his former team. Darius Garland continued his All-Star caliber campaign with a 20-point, 12-assist performance, while Evan Mobley boosted his bid for Rookie of the Year with 18 points, five rebounds, and two blocks.
Here is how FanDuel has set the Thunder–Cavaliers NBA odds for this Saturday night NBA matchup.
NBA odds: Thunder–Cavaliers Odds
Oklahoma City Thunder: +12 (-110)
Cleveland Cavaliers: -12 (-110)
Over: 208.5 (-110)
Under: 208.5 (-110)
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Why the Thunder could cover the spread
The Oklahoma City Thunder are the obvious underdogs for this game. As mentioned, they enter Saturday with four-straight losses that started with a 5-point home loss to the Cavs. As a young team with a star in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and several other intriguing players, it's hard to predict just how they will do on a nightly basis. They could be competitive as they showed against the Cavs and the Dallas Mavericks, a surging Western Conference team that OKC lost to by just two points last Monday. Or the Thunder could lose in a massive blowout as they did against the Spurs and Hornets this past week.
In terms of health, Oklahoma City is entering Sunday with an intact roster. They got reserve forward Kenrich Williams in their previous outing. He missed five games after getting placed in the league's health and safety protocols. Williams notched seven points, six rebounds, and two 3-pointers in his return. While Williams does play a role in OKC's rotation, whether they're competitive or not relies heavily on rising star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. SGA is having a magnificent 4th NBA season so far. If not for the Thunder's dismal record, he should get serious All-Star consideration. On the season, the Canadian is averaging 22.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 5.4 assists.
The 23-year old had a pretty subpar showing in their previous meeting against the Cavs, where he scored 21 points on 19 shots. Nonetheless, the talented two-guard is capable of having explosive games. Gilgeous-Alexander is already up to nine 30-point outings this season, just one short of tying his total in 2020-21. The Thunder are 14-31 on the season and are 4-10 against Eastern Conference teams. Against the spread, however, OKC is one of the best in the NBA with a 28-16 mark.
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Why the Cavaliers could cover the spread
The Cleveland Cavaliers have the edge on this one with the way they've been playing this season. At 5th in the Eastern Conference, Cleveland is arguably the most surprising team in the league. Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen have made strong cases to be All-Stars this season. Meanwhile, Evan Mobley is establishing himself as one of the most exciting young players in the league and should be a Rookie of the Year front-runner throughout the season.
The Cavaliers have listed veteran guard Rajon Rondo as questionable ahead of Saturday's game versus Oklahoma City. The 35-year old, who has only suited up thrice for the Cavs, has missed the team's last five outings. Cleveland acquired Rondo from the Los Angeles Lakers in early January as they looked to soften the blow of losing Ricky Rubio.
Rubio was having a magnificent campaign for the Cavs until he tore his left ACL. The Spaniard's season-ending injury prompted them to trade for more guard depth, especially since they also lost Collin Sexton earlier this season to a torn meniscus. The Cavaliers have done an admirable job responding to their injury woes. They went through a rough patch following Rubio's injury, but have since gone 7-3 since the flip of the calendar year. The Cavaliers are 27-19 overall this season and are 12-9 against non-conference teams. Against the spread, they are also one of the top teams at 28-14.
Final Thunder–Cavaliers prediction and pick
This is a tough one, given both teams have great records against the spread. Still, given the double-digit spread, it'll be safer to take the Thunder in this spot. 12.5 points is still a pretty wide spread, even though Oklahoma City just lost by an average of 22.5 points in their last two losses.
Final Thunder–Cavaliers Prediction & Pick: Thunder: +12 (-110)
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