Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s new Converse commercial speaks to patience in a sly troll of his former team, the LA Clippers. It was the summer of 2019 when the Clippers traded SGA AND four, first-round draft picks for then OKC All-Star Paul George to pair him with Kawhi Leonard. The win-now move has not worked in LA, but it did fast-track OKC’s path to success.
Now, SGA and the OKC Thunder are set to tip-off Round 2 of the playoffs against Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks while George stares at free agency and the Clippers begin their offseason.
Jay Croucher and Drew Dinsick took a look at the matchup on today’s Bet the EDGE.
Western Conference Playoffs
Series Pricing
Oklahoma City Thunder (-115) vs. Dallas Mavericks (-105)
Dinsick (@whale_capper) is all in on the Thunder.
“This team is still being pretty aggressively underrated on defense and the fact that the Dallas Mavericks took as long as it took in that series against the Clippers to find themselves offensively and now have a very different style of defense with younger wings to solve this series with an even better coach…I think it will take a little bit of time for the Mavericks to get their feet under them in this series. The fact that you are playing the first two games in OKC and that OKC is the more well-rested team and just probably overall in general, the healthier team considering that there are questions swirling about Luak…Thunder for me, and I’m going to lay the points in Game 1 as well.”
But the Edge is your source for the day in sports betting. Get all of Jay Croucher and Drew Dinsick’s insight weekdays at 6AM ET right here or wherever you get your podcasts.
Croucher (@croucherJD) likes the construction of the Dallas team, their style of play, and how they have been playing the last month or two, but he agrees that their current state does not match up favorably against the Thunder.
“The market absolutely adores the Mavericks and has for weeks now, whether that’s justified or not. I mean, I’ve been pretty pro Mavericks, I think relative to most people who talk about basketball, but just with Luka’s knee, it’s a little bit of a concern that he didn’t play great in five out of six games in the Clippers’ series. So that would be my apprehension about the Mavericks.”
Drew also spoke to the pricing of the series overall and where his fair number is at as we get set for the series opener.
“I would play the Thunder back out to -135. I didn’t play them there. I’m in this -120 range here. I think that’s a fair edge there I would stop in the -130s and I think I’m going to end up going down with the Thunder one way or the other this round.”
The Thunder and the Mavericks’ second round series tips off Tuesday night. Game 1 has OKC (-162) favored by 3½ against Dallas (+136). The game total is holding at 217.
Enjoy the game and enjoy a couple of sweats.
