Fargo's Western Conf. Game of the Month (8-1)

This is a play on the OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER for our Western Conf. Game of the Month. Oklahoma City was able to take Game Four on the road to even up this series and was able to regain home court advantage with pivotal Game Five on its home floor. The Thunder are 36-9 at home while outscoring opponents by 12.9 ppg which has led to a 29-16 ATS marl. The Thunder are a top-five team on offense and defense compared to Dallas, which is only a top 10 team on offense so the Mavericks have a much smaller margin for error and that is even more of a problem with Luka Doncic and his knee issue. The injury cannot be overstated. He is averaging 22 ppg in the series which is decent but he has .390/.310/.679 shooting splits and 44.8 percent Effective Field Goal Percentage which is nearly 13 percent lower than his mark during the regular season. Kyrie Irving has been inconsistent with his scoring so having to continue to rely on P.J. Washington for offense is not ideal. Here, we play against road underdogs of 3.5 to 9.5 points after having covered four or five of their last six games against the spread, in a game involving two teams with winning percentages between .600 and .750. This situation is 55-25 ATS (68.8 percent) over the last five seasons. 10* (524) Oklahoma City Thunder

AUTHOR: Matt Fargo

Matt is one of the most respected and consistent handicappers since 2000 and his thorough analysis has earned him a devoted following. He is considered a situational handicapper above anything and a contrarian at heart, a great edge to beat the books