Oklahoma City Thunder at Denver Nuggets (+1, 209)After receiving another reminder as to how special Kevin Durant is, the
Oklahoma City Thunder will continue a season-long six-game road trip
Sunday night in Denver. Durant started the trip in historic fashion,
scoring a career-high 52 points in an overtime win at Dallas on Friday.
That gave Oklahoma City six straight victories, including four in a row
away from home. Durant recorded the first 50-point game in the NBA this
season and hit the decisive basket with 16.9 seconds left.
It was
not Durant but rather Russell Westbrook (32 points) who did the bulk of
the work in ending the Nuggets' six-game winning streak Wednesday night
in Oklahoma City. Denver was unable to recover from the 20-point loss
as it returned home to fall to lowly Washington on Friday, 112-108. That
made it three straight games that opponents have scored at least 110
points against the Nuggets, who are one of seven NBA teams who allow 100
points or more per game.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FS Oklahoma (Oklahoma City), Altitude (Denver)
ABOUT THE THUNDER (32-8, 24-14-2 ATS):
Durant's 52-point performance was largely done from the line. He hit
all 21 of his attempts from the charity stripe, helping to offset a
somewhat lackluster 13-for-31 (41.9 percent) effort from the floor.
Westbrook added 31 points as the star tandem continued to shine for head
coach Scott Brook's Western Conference-leading squad, which is now 20-4
when both Durant and Westbrook reach the 20-point mark. The Thunder
visit the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday in a matchup of the top two
teams in the conference.
ABOUT THE NUGGETS (24-18, 23-19-0 ATS): One
reason for Oklahoma City's rout of Denver on Wednesday was the Thunder's
ability to limit standout guard Ty Lawson. However, Lawson broke out
two nights later with a blistering second half, albeit in a losing
effort against Washington. He scored 27 of his 29 points after the break
but had a layup blocked in the waning moments, denying Denver of the
tying points. Lawson had two points and four turnovers in 20 minutes
against Oklahoma City two nights earlier.
TRENDS:* Under is 4-0-1 in the last five meetings in Denver.
* Thunder are 3-0-1 ATS in the last four meetings in Denver.
* Under is 8-3-1 in the last 12 meetings.
* Road team is 5-1-1 ATS in the last seven meetings.
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. Thunder F Serge Ibaka had his eighth double-double (11 points, 14 rebounds) in the win over Dallas.
2.
Oklahoma City G Thabo Sefolosha was 0-for-4 from the field in 25
minutes against the Mavericks, going scoreless for just the second time
this season. However, he posted a team-high plus-11 rating.
3. Even with the loss to Washington, Denver has the third-best home record in the Western Conference at 15-3.