NBA Betting Preview: Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Golden State Warriors Game 5 Odds

The Oklahoma City Thunder are on the brink of pulling off consecutive series upsets against the West’s top two seeds heading into Game 5 of the conference finals versus the Golden State Warriors on Thursday night.

The Thunder knocked out the second-seeded San Antonio Spurs in six games during the second round and now look to take down the top-seeded Golden State Warriors in five as 7.5-point road underdogs at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark.

Oklahoma City is a -300 favorite (bet $300 to win $100) to advance to the NBA Finals for the second time in five years after entering the Western Conference Finals as a +350 dog (bet $100 to win $350). Meanwhile, Golden State will need to quickly find a way to rebound from two lopsided losses to keep the team’s slim chances of successfully defending its NBA championship alive.

The Warriors were -420 chalk heading into the series and hope the best home-court advantage in the league at Oracle Arena can force a return to OKC’s Chesapeake Energy Arena for Game 6 on Saturday.

The Thunder have gone 6-1 straight up and against the spread in their last seven playoff games, according to the Odds Shark NBA Database, and they have used stifling defense to take a commanding 3-1 series lead against the Warriors.

The under is 3-1 in the first four games because Golden State has scored 105 points or fewer three times, nearly 10 points below the team’s regular-season average of 114.9 per game.

Two-time NBA MVP Stephen Curry has reportedly been ailing from the knee injury he suffered in the first round versus the Houston Rockets, which has hurt the Warriors’ ability to play at a faster pace. Curry has averaged 24.3 points in the series, but he has made just 41.9 percent of his shots from the field, including 37.2 percent from three-point range.

Curry averaged 30.1 points on 50.4 percent shooting in the regular season and shot 45.4 percent from beyond the arc en route to an all-time record of 402 three-pointers.

Curry could also use some more help from teammates Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, who have underperformed against Oklahoma City. Thompson has led the team in scoring during the postseason with 25.4 points per game, but he has averaged 21 in this series.

Green has been even worse, with his averages of 22.2 points and 11.2 rebounds versus the Portland Trail Blazers in the second round shrinking to 11.3 and seven, respectively, in the Western Conference Finals.