Major
(NBA) Oklahoma City vs. Sacramento,
Point Spread: -7.50 | 100.00 Oklahoma City (Away)
Result: Loss
If a road favorite of 5.5 or more is coming off a loss as an underdog and/or road loss, they continue to be a profitable bet since the 1980s.

The theory being that one quality team loses to another quality squad, then will take out their frustrations on an inferior team. Our scorephone clients have won with this for more than a quarter century and when we discovered it, the winnings went back as far as our database did: to 1980.

Please note that the original angle was 5.5 or more. We noticed that after the turn of the century, shorter-term we saw the system was better at -5. However, in retrospect that fine-tuning was a wash. It is much stronger at -5.5. If the line drops below 5.5, it still applies as the angle is based on using oddsmakers knowledge against them and not affected by square moves.

The visiting Thunder (17-18) are 9-3 with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook in the lineup, so they are returning to the elite. Westbrook is averaging a career-high 27.0 points and Durant appears to be finding his form, scoring 44 and 34 in wins over Phoenix and Washington on Dec. 31 and Jan. 2.

Durant has scored 20.9 points per game on 51.1-percent shooting since missing the first 17 contests with a broken foot. Meanwhile, Westbrook has registered 27.3 ppg with a 50.3 field-goal percentage in eight games after returning from a broken hand. The explosive guard still wears a brace on his right hand as a protective measure.

Keep in mind that that it is very common for teams getting back to health to have some chemistry problems and be consistently inconsistent. Hence with a chip on their shoulder off an embarrassing loss to an elite team, they will take out their anger on an overmatched team.