The Oklahoma City Thunder are all business – and while that might not appease reporters covering the series, it has made the best-of-seven first-round tilt with Portland a lot more competitive as the teams prepare to face off Sunday at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Russell Westbrook and Paul George combined for 55 points in Friday’s 120-108 victory to trim the Trail Blazers’ lead in the best-of-seven to 2-1.

NBA Playoffs Point Spread and Betting Analysis

Oklahoma City is a comfortable favourite for the second consecutive game as they look to extend their recent run of home success. The Thunder have prevailed in four straight games at Chesapeake Energy Arena, covering all four while winning three of those contests by double digits. They’ve also covered seven of their previous 10 home games against the Trail Blazers, who have just one successful cover in their previous five road contests.

The Thunder and Trail Blazers have been solid under options for the majority of their recent head-to-head meetings, going 25-11-2 to the under in their previous 38 meetings. Those trends, however, run counter to each team’s recent patterns: The Trail Blazers are 6-1 to the over in their previous seven games following a straight-up defeat, while the Thunder have surpassed the total in five of their past six contests after covering last time out.

Portland Trail Blazers

Whatever methods of containment worked for the Trail Blazers in the first two games of the series, they most certainly did not in Game 3. But on the plus side, Portland’s offence remained efficient, shooting 47.0 percent from the floor and just over 38 percent from deep. Damian Lillard poured in a team-high 32 points and has been the offensive heartbeat as expected for the Trail Blazers, averaging 30.3 points and 2.7 steals through the first three games.

Oklahoma City Thunder

After shooting an almost unimaginable 10-for-61 from 3-point range in the first two games in Portland, the Thunder finally found their 3-point stroke back home. Oklahoma City shot a blistering 15-of-29 from beyond the arc in the Game 3 victory, with Westbrook (4-for-6), Jerian Grant (4-for-5) and Terrance Ferguson (3-for-4) leading the way. Paul George went just 3-for-16 from the field but connected on 14 of 17 free throws to finish with 22 points.

TRAIL BLAZERS

Away

106

THUNDER

Home

116

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