Two of the best big men in the Western
Conference and former college stars at Texas will square off as Kevin
Durant and the Thunder visit LaMarcus Aldridge and the Trail Blazers. Sportsbook odds have moved around a fair bit on this one.
The NBA odds makers opened with Portland a small dog
but they are now -1 on the spread and the total is at 194.5.
Oklahoma City (18-5 SU, 12-11 ATS) saw Tony Parker go
crazy as the Spurs point guard scored 42 points as San Antonio topped the Thunder with a 107-96 win on Saturday night. Parker along with Kobe
Bryant, Dwight Howard, Anthony Morrow and LeBron
James are the only players to score more than 40 points in a contest this
season. Last week, Bryant, Howard and James were chosen as starters for the
February 26 All-Star game, this week reserves will be announced. Parker
definitely made a strong case to be added to the team.
Durant paced the Thunder with 22 points,
11 rebounds and four blocked shots but it wasn’t enough to prevent Oklahoma
City from suffering its fourth straight loss in San Antonio. Overall OKC is a
solid 9-4 SU on the road (7-6 ATS) and 9-1 at home.
Portland (14-10 SU, 13-10-1 ATS) used a 29-point
effort from Aldridge to beat Denver on Saturday 117-97. The Blazers forward was
13 of 18 from the field, with nine rebounds and five assists. Marcus Camby had
another huge night on the boards pulling down 20 rebounds including seven on
the offensive end.
Portland is now a glossy 11-1 SU and 10-1-1
ATS at home. They’re currently in fourth place in the NBA’s Northwest
Division, 4.5 games behind Oklahoma City.
Battle of the Longhorns
In their last meeting on January 4,
Aldridge and the Trail Blazers bested Durant and the Thunder 103-93 winning
outright as a +4.5 point road dog. Aldridge scored 30 points and added
eight rebounds while. Durant was held to 19 points on 8 of 26 shooting.
Aldridge left Texas in 2006 for the NBA
and was taken second overall by the Bulls. Chicago then traded him to Portland
for Tyrus Thomas and the rest is history. The Bulls thought Thomas would be a
defensive menace (think Dennis Rodman 2.0) but things didn’t work out...at
least for them. Thomas has become somewhat of a journeyman while Aldridge is a
bona fide star.
Durant graduate from Texas in 2007 and
was the second overall selection by the Seattle Supersonics. He was named
Rookie of the Year and then, two years later (and relocated to Oklahoma City)
Durant won his first scoring title.
Stating his case
While Parker greatly enhanced his chances
of going to the All-Star game, Aldridge continues to demonstrate on a nightly
basis why he deserves to be part of the league’s showcase of their brightest
stars.
Despite playing on one of the league's
slowest-paced teams and playing next to one of the league's premier rebounders,
Aldridge is averaging 23.1 points and 8.8 rebounds per game plus is shooting
51.5 percent from the field.
Trends
Portland is 9-3 ATS in the last 12
series meetings and is on a 19-5-2 ATS run at home. The ‘under’ is 9-1-1 in
OKC’s last 11 games against Northwest Division teams and is 13-4 in the last 17
meetings.
Harvey’s Take: The Blazers are one tough bunch at
home and they get my money tonight in my NBA picks.
Good luck!