Oklahoma City at Los Angeles

These teams did a lot of scoring early in this series, but the deeper and more important the games became, the stiffer the resistance from the other side of the floor. While the first three games saw at least one of the teams scoring at least 112 points, neither of the last two games have seen either team top the 105-point mark. I look for both teams to come out with a high level of intensity in the first half with each trying to break the will of their opponent. The last two have been close games, and even with the free throw parade late in a close game, they stayed UNDER the total. So with no free throw parade in the first half in this one, I expect more of what we have seen in the last two games with an extra emphasis in the first half as these teams duke it out and jockey for an edge. Historically over the last 18 years in any playoffs game, covering 1400+ games, the first half UNDER is a 55.8% winner. Play the first half UNDER.