NBA Odds: Thunder Can Clinch Season Series vs. Jazz

Kevin Durant is averaging 29.5 ppg vs. Utah this season. (AP Images)

It’s starting to look more and more like Utah and Oklahoma City will be the No. 4 and 5 seeds in the Western Conference come playoff time, but in which order? Utah currently leads OKC by a game-and-a-half for the No. 4 spot and that potential extra home playoff game in a first-round playoff matchup. But the Thunder can clinch the season series with Utah by winning on Sunday night and thus would own the tiebreaker with the Jazz if the two teams finished tied in the standings. Bet on Sunday’s game with Bodog’s NBA odds.

Oklahoma City has won four games in a row (3-1 ATS), although it struggled a bit to beat the Nets on Friday. Kevin Durant had 32 in that one for his franchise-record 36th 30-point game this season. Durant broke the record set by Spencer Haywood in 1972-73 with the Seattle SuperSonics. However, Oklahoma City recently lost a key bench player in rookie guard James Harden, who might miss four weeks with a strained right hamstring. He was averaging 9.9 points and 3.3 rebounds in 23 minutes per game.

The Jazz, who are just two games behind Denver for the Northwest Division lead, enter off a 95-87 loss at red-hot Milwaukee on Friday that ended Utah’s own four-game winning streak. The Jazz played most of the second half of that one without starting small forward Andrei Kirilenko. He has a muscle strain in his left calf and is questionable for tonight’s game. Backup point guard Ronnie Price missed Friday’s game with a bruised wrist and will be a game-time decision tonight. Despite that Bucks loss, Utah still is on a 23-6 run in its past 29 games.

OKC beat Utah by 10 in Salt Lake City back on Nov. 24 behind 28 points from Durant. That was the franchise’s first win in Utah in three years. On Dec. 31, the Thunder won by a point at home over Utah as the Jazz’s Price missed a shot at the buzzer. The road team has covered the spread in six of the past eight meetings.

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