Oklahoma City Thunder at Washington Wizards

Washington Wizards -3

Over/Under 231.5

  • The total for this game seems awfully high considering neither of these teams has scored a whole lot this season. The Wizards are 15th in the NBA at 111.9 points per game, while Oklahoma City is 22nd with 108.7 ppg.

  • Of course, some of Oklahoma City’s scoring woes can be attributed to the back injury that kept Russell Westbrook out of two games this season. The Thunder have a 108.6 offensive rating with Westbrook on the floor and a 93.3 offensive rating when he is out.

  • Westbrook is still looking for his first triple-double this season. Westbrook averaged a triple-double each of the last two seasons, with 25 triple-doubles last season and a record 42 triple-doubles the season before that.

  • Even if Westbrook records a triple-double Friday, don’t expect a lot of assists for either team. The Thunder are 27th in the league in assist rate at 50.6 percent. Washington is only marginally better at 54.2 percent.

  • On the other hand, this game probably should feature a lot of shot attempts. Oklahoma City is fifth in the NBA in pace at 106.17. Washington is seventh at 105.71.

  • It is remarkable to think the Wizards are already one of the most dysfunctional teams in the NBA, and Dwight Howard hasn’t even played yet. Howard is set to make his Wizards debut Friday, and while he probably won’t help Washington’s offense, his rebounding and defense will be welcome additions for a team giving important minutes to Jason Smith and Ian Mahinmi .

  • The Wizards are last in the league in rebounding rate at 43.3 percent. Oklahoma City is 14th at 50.8 percent.

  • Howard told reporters he still cannot sit without pain, and he expects to lie on the floor when he’s not playing. Howard averaged 16.6 points and 12.5 rebounds per game last season with Charlotte. That was good for third in the NBA in rebounds, behind Andre Drummond and DeAndre Jordan .

  • As much at the Thunder miss Andre Roberson ’s defense, they still force a ton of turnovers. Oklahoma City is tied with the Grizzlies for the most steals in the NBA at 10.8 per game. The Wizards are committing 14.6 turnovers per game, while the Thunder are committing 15.7.

  • Steven Adams is 2-3 on opening tip offs this season.

  • The Thunder have the worst three point percentage in the league at 27.5 percent. The Wizards rank 27th at 32.3 percent.

  • Missing all those threes hasn’t stopped Washington from taking them, however. The Wizards rank seventh with 35.4 three point attempts per game.

  • Paul George is coming off his worst game of the season, shooting 4-of-20 from the field and 0-of-10 in a win against the Hornets. George does have two consecutive double-doubles, and he is averaging 1.4 blocks and 2.2 steals this season.

Pre-Game Props

      1. The last made shot of the 1st Quarter is a free throw (We'll leave this open until the 1:00 mark). (4.7x YES / 1.6x NO)

YES. The Thunder have made 20.3 free throws per game this season (10th in the NBA), and 40.3 field goals per game. The Wizards are third in the NBA with 22.4 FTM per game, but their 39.0 FGM per game ranks 25th. The payout for Yes is way too high to ignore.                                                                                                                                                                     

2. OKC commits more turnovers than WAS in the 1st Quarter (2.7x YES / 2.3x NO)

YES. This is close enough that I'm just going with the better payout. The Thunder commit 1.1 more turnovers per game than Washington, but they force 1.1 more turnovers per game as well.

3. A player from each team scores 8 or more points in the 1st Quarter (3.0x YES / 3.0 NO)

YES. Both of these teams have multiple ball handlers capable of topping 8 points in the first quarter, not to mention someone like Otto Porter Jr. Who could easily knock down a couple of threes.If this game is as fast paced as we suspect, that would help as well.

4. Either team attempts a 3 pointer by the 11:15 mark (2.4x YES / 2.7x NO)

NO. Even with as fast as these teams play, you basically need one of the first three possessions to result in a three. If this went to the 11:00 mark, I might have a different answer. It's pretty close, but I don't want to break my streak of picking the higher payout every time.

5. R. Westbrook (OKC) or B. Beal (WAS) score or assist on the first made FG of the game (3.5x YES / 2.0x NO)

NO. I guess my streak is over. Russell Westbrook is using 37.1 percent of his team's possessions when he is on the floor, per Cleaning The Glass. That number also takes turnovers into account, but it gives us a general idea for the purposes of this prop. Bradley Beal 's usage is 26.5 percent. If this prop had John Wall instead of Beal, I would be more tempted to say Yes.

6. WAS wins the opening tip-off (2.5x YES / 2.5x NO).

       NO. Steven Adams won 69.1 percent of opening tips last season, compared to 59.0 percent for Dwight Howard . Adams has gotten off to a rough start this season, but I think he will be back to .500 after         this game.