The Oklahoma City Thunder get set to clash against the Portland Trail Blazers Tuesday night inside the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. They tip it off at 8:00pm as the lowly Trail Blazers look to get a signature win with an upset. Bookmaker has installed the Pelicans as a heavy 14 1/2 point favorite. 

The Thunder (29-13) have been a fun team to watch and they have a great blend of young talent mixed in with some savvy veterans too. They have won two straight and six of eight overall and now sit 16 games over .500 on the season. 

The Northwest Division is loaded and they are hanging tough as they are only one game back of the first-place Minnesota Timberwolves for the top spot. 

They also seem to have some sustainability as well. On offense, they are paced by 25-year-old point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander who is leading the team in points with a monster 31 point average per clip. 

The Trail Blazers (12-30) have had a very rough season so far and they are well aware the season is slipping away from them. They find themselves 18 games under .500 on the season and really need to get some wins here and there in order to make their season worthwhile. 

Portland has dropped five of seven overall and they would love to get a big-time win over a very good Thunder team. They are coming into this game having given up 134 points in a bad loss to the Los Angeles Lakers and need to do a much better job on the defensive side of the floor against a team in the Thunder that likes to push the pace and the tempo. 

On offense, they are led by shooting guard Anfernee Simons who is scoring a team-high 22 points a game and he is also handing out close to five assists too. He is a fun player to watch on a team that does not have a ton of scoring options to give the ball too. 

As a whole, Portland will look to make this an ugly game and slow the pace down and not allow the Thunder to get out in transition and get easy buckets. Small forward Jerami Grant is a nice player too, he adds around 20 a game and they need him to play both ends of the floor and win the battle on the boards. 

Center Deandre Ayton leads the club in rebounding with 10 a game and if they can win the battle off the glass they could keep this game close. 

The Thunder are 3-2 in their last five games and 3-2 in their last five games against the number. The Thunder are 12-8 in their road games against the number too. The totals have gone over in a pair of games for the Thunder over their last five games. The totals have gone over in 12 out of their last 21 games at home. Portland is 2-3 in their last five games and 3-2 in their last five games against the number and a below average 10-13 in their road games against the spread.