Oklahoma City Thunder guard Josh Giddey has been on top of his game over his last five starts, and his team will need him to keep up his production on Sunday against the Brooklyn Nets. Giddey has averaged 18.6 points, eight rebounds and 7.6 assists, while knocking down 50% of his shots as the Thunder have gone 4-1 during that stretch. Meanwhile, the Nets have only played once since losing Kevin Durant for the next few weeks to a knee injury, losing to the Boston Celtics on Thursday.
Tip-off from the Barclays Center, where the Nets are 13-6 this season, is set for 6 p.m. ET. Brooklyn is favored by 5 points in the latest Nets vs. Thunder odds from Caesars Sportsbook, and the over/under is set at 230. Before entering any Thunder vs. Nets picks, you'll want to see the NBA predictions from the model at SportsLine.
The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every NBA game 10,000 times and has returned well over $10,000 in profit for $100 players on its top-rated NBA picks over the past four-plus seasons. The model enters Week 13 of the 2022-23 NBA season on a stunning 43-19 roll on all top-rated NBA picks this season, returning more than $2,100. Anyone following it has seen huge returns.
Now, the model has set its sights on Nets vs. Thunder. You can head to SportsLine to see its picks. Here are several NBA betting lines for Nets vs. Thunder:
- Nets vs. Thunder spread: Nets -5
- Nets vs. Thunder over/under: 230 points
- Nets vs. Thunder money line: Brooklyn -195, Oklahoma City +162
- Nets vs. Thunder picks: See picks here
What you need to know about the Nets
The Nets looked like a team that was missing their best player last Thursday against Boston in a 109-98 loss to the Celtics. Kyrie Irving was the top scorer for Brooklyn, scoring 24 points. Despite the loss, the Nets still got encouraging performances from Joe Harris (18 points, five rebounds) and T.J. Warren, who scored 20 points off the bench.
Without Durant, the Nets may need to get more on offense out of Ben Simmons, who failed to register a single point in the loss against the Celtics. Although he finished with 13 assists, two steals and a block against Boston, he hasn't scored in double-digits since Dec. 28 against Atlanta. Defensively, the Nets should find some leverage down low with center Nic Claxton, who has 32 blocks in eight games since Christmas.
What you need to know about the Thunder
The Thunder have been rolling and looked as strong as they have all season in a 124-110 win against the Chicago Bulls on Friday. Oklahoma City got key performances from small forward Jalen Williams, who had 22 points along with eight rebounds and Giddey, who finished with 25 points. As a team, Oklahoma City shot 51.1% from the field and held Chicago to shoot 31.6% from beyond the 3-point line.
Few teams have been as strong on offense as the Thunder over the last five games, as OKC has shot 50% from the field and 38% from deep during that stretch. An interesting dynamic to watch in Sunday's matchup will be the Thunder's shot creation. Over their last five games, OKC has averaged 26.8 assists, but the Nets have held opponents to just 21.6 during that same period.
How to make Nets vs. Thunder picks
The model has simulated Nets vs. Thunder 10,000 times and the results are in. We can tell you that the model is leaning Over, and it's also generated a point-spread pick that is hitting in just over 60% of simulations. You can only see the pick at SportsLine.
Who wins Nets vs. Thunder? And which side of the spread is a must-back? Visit SportsLine right now to see which side of the spread you need to jump on, all from the computer model that has crushed its NBA picks, and find out.
