Portland at Oklahoma City NBA Betting Pick, Prediction & TV Info

The Portland Trail Blazers need every win they can get in the final month-plus of the season as they are battling with a few other teams for the West’s final playoff spot. However, the Blazers will be solid NBA betting underdogs Tuesday in the second of a back-to- back in Oklahoma City.

Portland at Oklahoma City NBA Betting Pick, Prediction & TV Info

When: Tuesday, March 7, 8 PM ET Where: Chesapeake Energy Arena, OKC TV: NBA TV Stream: NBA.tv Radio: Portland / Oklahoma City  NBA Odds: Thunder favored by TBA

Why Bet on Portland?

The Trail Blazers were in Minnesota on Tuesday. As of Monday, they had won two straight and were 1.5 games out of the West’s final playoff spot, currently held by Denver. The Blazers beat Brooklyn on Saturday and scored 130 points in doing so, their second-highest total of the season. CJ McCollum scored 31 points. Al-Farouq Aminu made five 3-pointers and finished with 23 points off the bench. He also tied for a team-high six rebounds for Portland, which won consecutive games for the first time since a three-game win streak from Jan. 21-27. The Blazers went 16 of 25 (64 percent) on 3-pointers and shot 57 percent from the field overall. Moe Harkless filled it up against the Nets with 18 points, two rebounds, three assists, three blocks, two steals and two 3-pointers in 30 minutes. He made 6-of- 7 from the field, 4-of- 5 from the line and didn’t turn the ball over. Swingman Allen Crabbe (left tibial contusion) was probable to play Monday vs. Minnesota. Crabbe suffered a bruised shin during Saturday’s matchup with the Nets, but he played through it. Fellow swingman Evan Turner (hand) could return as soon as March 15 against the Spurs. The forward had his cast removed from his right hand on Friday and is now wearing a splint, but he can’t grip a basketball or similar basketball-related activities for another week. He broke the third metacarpal of his right (shooting) hand back on Feb. 7, so he’s on track to meet his original timetable of 4-5 weeks. Forward Ed Davis (shoulder) said he will be ready to return by the start of next season. He has undergone arthroscopic surgery on his left shoulder to repair a torn labrum that will sideline him for the remainder of the 2016-17 campaign. Tuesday marks the fourth and final regular season matchup between the Trail Blazers and Thunder in 2016-17. Portland enters this contest with a 2-1 edge over Oklahoma City in the season series, marking the fourth straight season in which the Trail Blazers have won multiple games against the Thunder

Why Bet on Oklahoma City?

The Thunder are comfortably in the playoffs but enter on a three-game skid after losing 104-89 in Dallas on Sunday to complete a winless three-game trip. Russell Westbrook scored 29 points after scoring more than 40 in each of his last four games. He had six rebounds and five assists, but the Mavericks frustrated him into both a technical foul and a flagrant-one foul. Both came in the midst of a 21-4 third- quarter run that allowed Dallas to blow the game open. Westbrook’s combination of a technical and flagrant-one does not result in an ejection, and he stayed in the game and scored 15 of his team’s 21 points in the third quarter. He had 14 in the first quarter and was held scoreless in the second and fourth quarters. Westbrook’s streak of 40-point performances ended at four games. Two more technical would give him 16 on the season and result in an automatic one-game suspension. Had Westbrook scored 40 points in Dallas, he would have become the first player to string together five straight 40-point outings since Kobe Bryant accomplished the feat in March of 2007. Westbrook’s next triple-double would be his 31 st this season, tying Wilt Chamberlain for the second most triple-doubles in a single NBA season. Dating back to the start of last season, Oklahoma City has gone a remarkable 42-6 when Westbrook records a triple-double. Steven Adams scored 19 for Oklahoma City, and Enes Kanter had 16 vs. the Mavs. Victor Oladipo missed his sixth straight game with back spasms. Doug McDermott started the second half of Sunday’s game in place of Alex Abrines (eye), finishing with six points, four rebounds and two assists in 35 minutes. Abrines didn’t return in the second half and he’s considering him questionable to play vs. the Blazers on Tuesday. Oklahoma City has won four straight home games over Portland (1-0 this season). The Trail Blazers are 3-10 in road games vs. the Thunder since 2010-11.

Portland at Oklahoma City Betting Pick:

Always bet against a team playing the second of a back-to- back on the road against a rested team.