Vegas Play of the Day: Oklahoma City Thunder at Cleveland Cavaliers

By Case Keefer (contact)

Sunday, Jan. 25, 2015 | 2 a.m.

The only thing that could make this NBA season, which has been one of the most entertaining in recent memory, better is profiting off it in the Play of the Day.

I’m planning to focus on the association with my $10,000 starting bankroll for the time being, beginning today.

Oklahoma City Thunder plus-3.5 at Cleveland Cavaliers: $440 to win $400

The Thunder have less than a 50 percent chance of making the postseason according to John Hollinger’s playoff odds. There’s no room for error. And they know it.

That’s why Russell Westbrook and other teammates appeared to suffer aneurysms whenever anything went wrong in Friday’s loss at Atlanta. The Thunder’s 103-93 defeat snapped a four-game winning and covering streak, mainly because they ran into a better team.

That won’t happen this afternoon. Oklahoma City is superior to Cleveland in most relevant statistical measures despite having played a tougher schedule and doing it without Westbrook and Kevin Durant for an extended period at the start of the season.

The Thunder are feeling hungry and desperate while the Cavaliers are fat and happy, having gorged with 116 points per game since LeBron James returned to the lineup. Cleveland has looked like the title-contending team everyone expected in a five-game winning and covering streak. But the Cavaliers have set a torrid pace too difficult to maintain on offense, and they still play next to no defense, which is particularly concerning against Durant and Westbrook.

Standings: Bern (64-54-1, $12,166), Keefer (62-62-2, $10,367), Brewer (57-62-3, $6,685)

Case Keefer can be reached at 948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.