In what I believe will be the last of my free sports picks for the second round of the 2011 NBA Playoffs, the Oklahoma City Thunder will visit the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday at 9:00pm ET on ESPN in game 6 of their best-of-seven, Western Conference series. The Thunder grabbed a 3-2 lead on Wednesday at the Oklahoma City Arena and now they sit just one win away from facing the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference finals. I think Oklahoma City wins this series even if Memphis wins game 6, but I believe it is important for the Thunder to close this thing out sooner than later since Dallas has been resting and preparing for almost a week now after sweeping the Los Angeles Lakers. Oklahoma City is listed as a -600 favorite to win this series and I say jump on the Thunder now, because I think those NBA playoff odds will lose a lot of value if Kevin Durant and company fail to end this series tonight. A game 7 back in Oklahoma would then make the Thunder a very risky pick, as the risk/reward factor will completely suck the value out of making that type of wager.

In game 5, the Oklahoma City bench contributed 53 points led by Daequan Cook, who had 18 points on 6-of-7 shooting and made four 3-point baskets. Nazr Mohammed scored 10 points, James Harden had nine points and Nick Collison added nine points and 10 rebounds. We all know that the Oklahoma City starters will put up their share of points, but if their bench steps up again like they did in game 5, this game will be decided by the third quarter. The NBA odds at SBGGlobal.com have the Oklahoma City Thunder listed as 2-point underdogs in game 6 and I like it. I know the Thunder will come out with a sense of urgency and will avoid having to play in a pressure-packed game 7.

The Grizzlies shot just 35.9 percent and were dominated on the boards, 50-33. Inside standouts Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol combined for just 24 points and 12 rebounds one game after combining for 60 points and 37 rebounds in the triple-overtime contest. Gasol with 15 points was the only Memphis player to score in double figures. That cannot happen again, but it might because Oklahoma City seemed to break the souls of the Memphis Grizzlies with that dominant 27-point beating. This young Memphis team may not be ready to overcome that with short-term memory, and may still be showing the effects when they take the floor for game 6.

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