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SPORTS BETTING
Basketball

Portland Trail Blazers at Oklahoma City Thunder predictions, picks and best bets

Esten McLaren
Sportsbook Wire

The Portland Trail Blazers took care of business on home court in their first-round series against the Oklahoma City Thunder and now hold a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference Quarterfinals as they relocate to Chesapeake Energy Arena for Game 3 Friday. Things will get underway shortly after 9:30 p.m. Eastern.

Odds provided by Bet365; for a full-set of today's sports betting odds, access them at USA TODAY Sports.

Portland Trail Blazers at Oklahoma City Thunder: By the Numbers

  • The third-seeded Trail Blazers opened the postseason as underdogs against the sixth-seed Thunder in the first-round. The Blazers are now -210 favorites to win the series.
  • Portland routed OKC by 20 points in Game 2 after squeaking out a five-point win in the series opener. Its leading scoring in each game has had at least 30 points.

  • SF Paul George is the only player averaging better than 20 points per game for the Thunder. PG Russell Westbrook is averaging 19 points, 10.5 assists, and 9.5 total rebounds.
  • The Thunder has made just 10 of 61 3-point attempts through the first two games of the series. Portland is shooting .421 from beyond the arc.

Portland Trail Blazers at Oklahoma City Thunder: Key Injuries

C Jusuf Nurkic is out for Portland.

SGs Hamidou Diallo and Andre Roberson are sidelined for Oklahoma City.

Portland Trail Blazers at Oklahoma City Thunder: Best Bet

Moneyline:Portland is a massive +270 underdog in its first road game of the postseason. It's the second game in a row the Thunder has been the favorite despite the 20-point loss last time out. The number is far too big to pass up for a team leading the series 2-0.

Against the spread: The Thunder is being spotted -7.5 points in its first home game. If you're not willing to pick the Trail Blazers for the outright win, at least take them to cover at -110 odds.

Over/under: The total of 221.5 is the highest on Friday's three-game slate. Choose the OVER (-110) as OKC aims to get back to its sixth-ranked pace of 105.3 possessions from the regular season.

Follow Esten on Twitter @EstenMcLaren

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