Russell Westbrook isn’t saying much this post-season – and he’s now one loss away from going silent for a very long time. Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder find themselves on the verge of a disappointing first-round exit as they travel Portland for a Game 5 encounter with the Trail Blazers on Tuesday night. Portland will have three chances to eliminate the Thunder after prevailing 111-98 in Oklahoma City in Game 4.

NBA Playoffs Point Spread and Betting Analysis

The Blazers aren’t huge favourites in Game 5, mainly because the Thunder still have the talent to keep things close. But don’t be surprised to see plenty of action on the home team when you consider that Portland is 21-8 against the spread (ATS) in its past 29 games on one day of rest, and has covered four of its previous five overall. The Thunder, on the flip side, are 1-4 ATS in their last five road games and have just five covers in their past 21 against teams from the Western Conference.

With the Thunder offence sputtering, oddsmakers are going with a more conservative sub-220 total for Tuesday’s game. Oklahoma City is 9-2 to the under in its past 11 games following a home loss of 10 or more points, while these teams have converted the under in five of their previous six meetings at Moda Center. But Portland has been an over magnet at home of late, going 15-5-1 to the over in their past 21 games there.

Oklahoma City Thunder

The first two games saw the Thunder make a mockery of the 3-point line. They’ve improved in that regard over the previous two games, but ran into an entirely different problem in Game 4: their two best players were their two worst shooters. Westbrook and Paul George went a combined 13-of-42 from the field, while the rest of the Oklahoma City roster was a respectable 20-of-46 from the floor. They also combined for seven of the Thunder’s 14 turnovers.

Portland Trail Blazers

The Trail Blazers were far from perfect themselves in Game 4, barely breaking the 41-percent barrier from the field. But they did nearly everything else right, shooting nearly 43 percent from 3-point range while connecting on 22-of-23 free-throw attempts in the victory. And those last two proficiencies have been the story of the series: Portland is averaging 41.5 percent from deep and 82.1 percent from the line, compared to OKC at 30.8 and 77.7 percent, respectively.

THUNDER

Away

102

TRAIL BLAZERS

Home

110

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