LIVE DISCUSSION: OKC Thunder at Brooklyn Nets, 7:30 p.m. ET
FILED UNDER:
The Nets are severely undermanned against the best.
The Washington Wizards seem to be Brooklyn’s kryptonite despite possessing the league’s worst record. Now, it flips to a matchup against the best team in the NBA. Perhaps the 180 flip means a win? Only 1.5 games out of a play-in spot.
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Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
Opponent: Oklahoma City Thunder (46-11)
Jimmy Butler likes beefing his way out of a bad team situation – bad for him, anyways. One legendary target of his beefing was the entire Minnesota Timberwolves organization. Butler is a force on the court, and a force as a person with a big ego and bigger expectations. That meshed well with Tom Thibodeau, but didn’t mesh well with his fresh faced teammates, Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins. So, he did what any rational person would do – picked a fight with them and Minnesota’s entire front office during a scrimmage heard round’ the world (and by Rachel Nichols like an hour after it happened).
Tune In: YES Network; WFAN Radio
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Injury Report: New two-way signee Kendall Brown will serve time in Long Island while Cam Thomas (hamstring), D’Angelo Russell (ankle), Noah Clowney (ankle), and DeAnthony Melton (out for the season) remain out. Nic Claxton is out (suspended). And if that wasn’t enough, Cam Johnson is questionable with a lower back contusion. Dariq Whitehead will be unavailable as well as well after suffering a tough injury in Long Island’s contest last night. For OKC, Nikola Topic (knee) and Ajay Mitchell (G-League) will be out.
The Game: In the first game between the two teams on January 19, OKC destroyed Brooklyn, shooting 61.9% from the field and 61.1% from 3-point range (11 of 18) in the first half as they built a 69-49 lead. The Thunder continued to dominate in the second half, expanding its lead to 29 points in the closing minutes before winning by a final tally of 127-101. Stretched thin up front used their prodigious 3-point shooting, hitting 9-of-13 from deep in the first quarter. Isaiah Joe finished with eight threes. It’s basically a team without any offensive flaws and a first rate coach.
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Jimmy Butler beefed himself off the Timberwolves with one scrimmage and one interview
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Thunder vs. Nets odds, score prediction, time: 2025 NBA picks, February 26 best bets from proven model
We’ve got another exciting interconference contest on Wednesday’s NBA schedule as the Brooklyn Nets will host the Oklahoma City Thunder. Brooklyn is 21-36 overall and 9-18 at home, while Oklahoma City is 46-11 overall and 20-7 on the road. The Thunder defeated the Nets, 127-101, at home on Jan. 19 and are 5-1 over their last six matchups against Brooklyn. D’Angelo Russell (ankle) and Nic Claxton (suspension) are out for the Nets.
Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. The Thunder are favored by 16.5 points in the latest Nets vs. Thunder odds, according to the SportsLine consensus. The over/under is 217.5 points. Before entering any Thunder vs. Nets picks, you’ll want to see the NBA predictions from the model at SportsLine.
The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every NBA game 10,000 times and has returned well over $10,000 in betting profit for $100 players on its top-rated NBA picks over the past six-plus seasons. The model enters Week 19 of the 2024-25 NBA season on a sizzling 147-106 roll on all top-rated NBA picks dating back to last season, returning nearly $4,000. It’s also an outstanding 18-10 (64%) on top-rated spread picks this season. Anyone following at sportsbooks and on betting apps could have seen huge returns.
The model has set its sights on Oklahoma City vs. Brooklyn. You can head to SportsLine to see its picks. Here are several NBA betting lines for Nets vs. Thunder:
The Thunder, with the best record in the Western Conference, are coming off a rare loss and the first game following an Oklahoma City loss hasn’t often brought favorable results to the opposing team. The Thunder have won seven straight games following a loss, winning by an average of 23 points per game. Each of those victories came by at least 10 points with five wins by more than 20 points. The Thunder defeated the Nets, 127-101, in their first matchup, which came following one of the last seven losses.
Oklahoma City has the MVP favorite in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who leads the NBA at 32.4 ppg. He had 39 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists in the Thunder’s 131-128 overtime loss to the Timberwolves on Monday for his second straight game with at least 37 points and eight rebounds. Oklahoma City has the No. 5 scoring offense (117.8 ppg) and No. 2 scoring defense (105.6 ppg) in the league this season in what appears to be a complete talent mismatch on paper. See which team to pick here.
The Nets will be shorthanded, but that’s nothing new to them given the bevy of injuries they’ve faced this season. Russell will miss his third straight game and Claxton faces a one-game suspension following his sixth flagrant foul of the season, but the Nets have played without Cam Thomas, their leading scorer, since Jan. 2. The Nets have remained competitive due to defensive effort and success, holding teams below 100 points in six of their last 10 games and 110 points or fewer in 13 of 14 contests.
Brooklyn’s recent defensive dominance has the Nets ranked as the No. 8 scoring defense, allowing 110.8 ppg this season. The Nets are 7-3 ATS over their last 10 games and although knocking off the Thunder may seem like an impossible task, Brooklyn has been doing the improbable the majority of the season to remain just 1.5 games out of the NBA Play-In Tournament. See which team to pick here.
The model has simulated Nets vs. Thunder 10,000 times and the results are in. The model is leaning Under, projecting 207 combined points, and it’s also generated a point-spread pick that is hitting in almost 70% of simulations. You can only see the pick at SportsLine.
So who wins Thunder vs. Nets, and which side of the spread hits almost 70% of the time? Visit SportsLine now to see which side of the Nets vs. Thunder spread you need to jump on, all from the model that is on a 147-106 roll on top-rated NBA picks since last season, and find out.
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