Oklahoma City Thunder vs Charlotte Hornets Prediction, 12/26/2020 NBA Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Oklahoma City Thunder vs Charlotte Hornets

Date: Saturday, December 26, 2020

Location: Spectrum Center in Charlotte, NC

TV: Fox Sports Southeast

Odds/Point Spread: Oklahoma City (+1.5)

Spectrum Center is the site where and the Charlotte Hornets (23-42 last year) will take on the Oklahoma City Thunder (44-28 last season) on Saturday. The spread on this contest has Charlotte as 1.5-point favorites. The O/U opens at 216.

The Oklahoma City Thunder played the Los Angeles Clippers and ended up losing by a score of 107-103 in their last contest of last year. Oklahoma City finished the contest with a 35.8% field goal percentage (38 of 106) and converted 14 of 44 three-point shots. From the free throw line, the Thunder converted 13 of their 22 shots for a rate of 59.1%. When it comes to pulling down boards, they compiled 48 with 11 of them being of the offensive sort. They also distributed 18 assists in the game in addition to earning 5 steals and 6 blocked shots. Concerning defense, Oklahoma City allowed their opponent to shoot 40.0% from the floor on 34 of 85 shooting. Los Angeles distributed 23 assists and had 10 steals in the matchup. Furthurmore, the Clippers collected 61 rebounds (12 offensive, 49 defensive) and added 2 rejections. Los Angeles finished the game shooting 69.2% from the free throw line by converting 27 of their 39 shots. They made 12 of 37 tries from beyond the perimeter.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is someone who was a major contributor for the matchup. He ended up finishing with 19 points on 6 out of 11 shooting. He played for 40:31 minutes and also snagged 3 rebounds. Gilgeous-Alexander shot 54.5% from the floor and dished out 4 dimes. An additional guy that came through in this game for the Thunder was Chris Paul. He collected 11 rebounds and also earned 12 assists. He finished shooting 45.5% from the floor for the contest by connecting on 5-of-11 (19 points). At the conclusion of this game, Paul played 39:52 minutes.

Oklahoma City will play this game after finishing with a win-loss mark of 44-28 last season. They lost possession via turnover 13.7 times per contest and as a team committed 19.3 fouls every game. As a team, Oklahoma City collected 42.9 boards per game and earned 1,562 assists last year, which had them ranked 23rd in basketball in terms of passing. The Thunder shot 35.5% on shots from beyond the arc (770 of 2,171) and 79.6% from the free throw line. They averaged 110.4 pts per contest (21st in the NBA) while hitting 46.8% from the floor. On the defensive end of the court, the Thunder were able to force 14.2 turnovers per contest while drawing 22.8 personal fouls. The Thunder defense allowed an opponent shooting percentage of 45.5% (2,937 of 6,454) and they surrendered 44.8 rebounds per contest as a basketball team. They were ranked 8th in the NBA in giving up assists to the opposition with 1,656 conceded last year. They relinquished 34.0% on shots from distance and they ranked 7th in the league in PPG allowed (108.4).

For their last game, the Charlotte Hornets took a loss by a score of 121-114 when they faced the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Hornets recorded 24 defensive rebounds and 8 offensive rebounds for a total of 32 for the contest. They turned away 4 tries while recording 10 steals for the game. The Cavaliers committed 22 personal fouls in this matchup which got the Hornets to the free throw line for a total of 15 attempts. They were able to knock down 8 of them for a rate of 53.3%. In relation to three-point attempts, Charlotte made 16 of their 44 tries (36.4%). At the conclusion of this game, the Hornets walked away from this one shooting 45 for 90 from the floor which had them shooting 50.0%. The Hornets allowed the Cavaliers to bury 46 of their 87 tries from the field which had them sitting at 52.9% for the matchup. They finished the game shooting 46.7% from downtown by going 14 of 30 and walked away from this one shooting 15 of 20 at the charity stripe (75.0%). When it comes to rebounds, Charlotte allowed Cleveland to get 50 overall (10 offensive).

Terry Rozier was important for the Hornets in the matchup. He knocked down 15 out of 23 for this contest giving him a rate of 65.2%, which had him finishing with 42 points. Rozier collected 3 rebounds in his 37:31 minutes of time on the court and accounted for 2 assists for this game. Another guy that was pivotal for Charlotte was Gordon Hayward. He scored 28 points in 36:13 mins on the court by way of 11 out of 18 shooting in this game. Hayward ended the game having shot 61.1% from the field while contributing 7 assists and 4 rebounds.

Charlotte had a win-loss record of 23-42 last year. Charlotte earned 6,687 pts last season (102.9 per game) and they averaged 42.8 boards per contest. In terms of offensive execution, the Hornets connected on 43.4% from the field, which ranked 30th in basketball. The Hornets were responsible for committing 18.8 fouls every game while shooting 74.8% from the charity stripe. Their rate of assisting teammates was at 23.8 times per game (19th in the NBA) and they turned the ball over 14.6 times per game. The Hornets on the defensive end were ranked 12th in the NBA in points allowed per game with 109.6. The Charlotte defense gave up 35.2% on 3-pointers (803 of 2,279) and their opponents made 75.8% of their free throw shots. They forced 14.4 TO's per game and let teams shoot 47.6% from the floor (23rd in the NBA). They gave up 26.6 assists and 46.0 rebounds every game, which was ranked 30th and 23rd in those categories.

Who will win tonight's NBA game against the spread?

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Charlotte (-1.5)

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