Oklahoma City Thunder (19-42) vs. Denver Nuggets (36-25)
March 2, 2022 9:00 pm EDT
The Line: Denver Nuggets -12.5; Over/Under: -
(Get latest betting odds)
The Oklahoma City Thunder and the Denver Nuggets collide at the Ball Arena on Wednesday night.
The Oklahoma City Thunder have been in a real slump as they’ve lost eight of their last 10 games overall and they will be hoping for a better showing after getting embarrassed by the Kings in a 131-110 loss on Monday. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the team with 27 points, seven rebounds and 10 assists on 12 of 16 shooting, Oliver Sarr added 12 points off the bench while Tre Mann chipped in with 11 points and four assists. As a team, the Thunder shot 46 percent from the field and 11 of 35 from the 3-point line as they kept pace with the Kings in the first half, but their lack of scoring depth was really evident in the second half as they couldn’t keep up in the second half where the Kings poured in 72 points.
Meanwhile, the Denver Nuggets have been in great shape as they’ve won eight of their last nine games overall and they will be eager to build on their current six-game win streak after blowing past the Trail Blazers in a 124-92 road win on Sunday. JaMychal Green led the team with 20 points and 10 rebounds off the bench, DeMarcus Cousins added 19 points with eight rebounds and six assists, Bryn Forbes added 17 points while Jeff Green and Aaron Gordon chipped in with 14 points each. As a team, the Nuggets shot 51 percent from the field and 12 of 37 from the 3-point line as they poured 66 points in the first half to take the early double-digit lead, before running away with it in the fourth quarter where they exploded for 38 points. Nikola Jokic scored just eight points on three of five shooting, but still contributed with 18 rebounds and 11 assists.
Looking at the betting trends, the Thunder are 21-7 ATS in their last 28 road games, 11-4-3 ATS in their last 18 games against a team with a winning record and 21-10-4 ATS in their last 35 games overall. The Nuggets are 2-7 ATS in their last nine home games, 1-5 ATS in their last six home games against a team with a losing road record and 7-2 ATS in their last nine games overall.
Head to head, the Thunder are 1-6 ATS in the last seven meetings in Denver and the Thunder are 4-13 ATS in the last 17 meetings overall.
The Thunder are going to be severely shorthanded once again as Mike Muscala, Ty Jerome, Luguentz Dort, Josh Giddey and Aaron Wiggins are all out, while the Nuggets are still without Michael Porter Jr. and Jamal Murray, while Zeke Nnaji is questionable. Gilgeous-Alexander poured in 27 points on 12 of 16 shooting on Monday and it still wasn’t nearly enough against the Kings, so I have to take the red-hot Nuggets in this one. The Thunder are only 4-13 ATS in the last 17 meetings overall and I think that trend continues here.
