Oklahoma City Thunder fans have been anticipating Wednesday night's tip-off since the schedule was released. But, perhaps, so too have the Golden State Warriors. Or, at least, Kevin Durant.
Durant returns to his old stomping grounds to face former teammate Russell Westbrook and the Thunder for a mammoth 8 p.m. ET contest.
The Warriors are six-point home favorites. The over-under, or total number of points Vegas thinks will be scored, is 224.5.
Before picking Team Russell or Team Kevin, you'll want to see what SportsLine expert Micah Roberts has to say.
Roberts, who ran Station Casinos' sportsbooks for over a dozen years, knows what to look for as soon as he sees a line. He can spot a bad one a mile away. No surprise, then, that he enters Wednesday night marquee matchup on a 7-3 NBA run.
Now, Roberts has released a strong pick for this Western Conference showdown, and he's sharing it over at SportsLine.
Despite making offseason moves to bring in All-Stars alongside Westbrook, the Thunder are a disappointing 7-9 on the season. If the playoffs started today, Oklahoma City would be watching from home.
But in games decided by single digits, the Thunder are 1-9. They're not far off from being a major contender, as long as they can find a way to win the close ones.
Westbrook is still being Westbrook. On Monday, the Thunder guard had 22 points, 16 rebounds, 12 assists and three steals but the Thunder lost 114-107 to New Orleans. It was his fifth triple-double of the season.
Golden State, meanwhile, hasn't had to figure out how to win close games because it doesn't play in many of them. Only two of the Warriors' 17 games have come down to the wire en route to a 13-4 record, tied for best in the West with the Rockets.
The Warriors rank No. 1 by a wide margin in scoring, averaging 117.9 per game. Like the Thunder, the Warriors have three players averaging 20-plus points: Stephen Curry (25.6), Durant (24.9) and Klay Thompson (20.1). Draymond Green has been his usual do-it-all self as well, averaging 10.4 points with a team-high 7.6 rebounds and 6.6 assists.
Will the Thunder defend the home court and send Durant back to the Bay Area with a loss? Or will the surging Warriors flex their championship muscle and show OKC where it stands in the hierarchy?
So what side of Warriors-Thunder do you need to be all over? Visit SportsLine now to see the strong point-spread winner of Warriors-Thunder, all from the man on a 70-percent NBA winning streak, and find out.
