NBA Free Pick: 569 Orlando Magic @ 570 Oklahoma City Thunder
Rating: 2 Units – Regular Play
Pick: Under 215.5
Price: -110 / 1.91 on Bookmaker
Write Up:
OKC is 3-0 L3 with impressive wins against the Clippers x2 and the Mavericks. They were able to be decent on the offensive end, but they also enjoyed good matchups. OKC offense is #1 ranked in the league in drives per possession (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is #1 in the league individually) and they thrive against teams that don’t have much size in the frontcourt so they can convert those drives. That was the case against the Clippers and the Mavericks… No wonder OKC scored 48, 54 and 70 points in the paint in those games.
This is not the case with the Orlando Magic who is using some super-sized lineups as their both PG’s are hurt. Bol Bol, Wagner, Banchero and Carter Jr are all +6’10’’ players and it’s going to be tough for OKC to score via drives. Actually, the Magic is ranking very well defensively vs. drives so far in the season.
ORL is learning to play offense without a true PG, so I expect some growing pains in this area. They could take advantage of their size in the frontcourt against OKC’s undersized unit, but I expect OKC to pack the paint and dare them to shoot from the outside – an area where ORL has been awful so far(#28 ranked 3pts%).