New Orleans Pelicans vs Oklahoma City Thunder Prediction, 12/26/2021 NBA Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: New Orleans Pelicans vs Oklahoma City Thunder

Date: Sunday, December 26, 2021

Location: Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, OK

TV: Bally Sports OK

The Oklahoma City Thunder (11-19) will try to defeat the New Orleans Pelicans (11-21) at Paycom Center on Sunday.

The Pelicans stepped onto the hardwood against the Trail Blazers and went home with a win by a final score of 111-97 in their last game. In regard to personal fouls, the Pelicans ended up finishing with 19 and the Trail Blazers finished the game with 10 personal fouls. They also made 13 of their 34 shots from beyond the perimeter. Portland finished the game shooting 73.7% when shooting free throws by knocking down 14 of 19 shots. Moreover, Portland snagged 24 boards (7 offensive, 17 defensive) and had 3 blocked shots. Portland doled out 31 assists and had 18 steals in this game. When talking about defense, New Orleans allowed their opponent to shoot 44.9% from the floor on 35 out of 78 shooting. They also recorded 27 assists in this game as well as forcing the other team into 4 turnovers and earning 5 steals. With respect to hauling in rebounds, they earned 44 with 8 of them being on the offensive end. From the free throw line, the Pelicans buried 15 of 18 tries for a percentage of 83.3%. New Orleans ended the game having earned a 52.5% field goal percentage (42 out of 80) and buried 12 out of their 33 shots from beyond the perimeter.

Brandon Ingram is a player who came through for the matchup. Ingram shot 54.5% from the floor and totaled 8 dimes. He played 37 mins and snagged 8 boards. He ended up finishing with 28 points on 12 of 22 shooting.

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New Orleans comes into this contest with a mark of 11-21 for the season. They average 104.6 points per game (27th in the league) while connecting on 43.7% from the field. The Pelicans are shooting 33.9% on three-point shots (353 of 1,040) and 79.1% from the charity stripe. As a team, New Orleans is snagging 46.7 boards per game and is sitting with 789 dimes for the year, which has them ranked 8th in the league in terms of passing the ball. They turn it over 15.2 times per contest and as a squad they are committing 19.7 fouls every game.

When they are on defense, the Pelicans are able to force 0.4 turnovers per game and they draw 0.6 personal fouls. They currently rank 19th in the NBA in giving up assists to the opposition with 25 relinquished on the season. The Pelicans are allowing a FG percentage of 46.9% (42 of 89) and they concede 1.4 boards per contest as a basketball team. They are giving up 36.5% on 3-point shots while they are 14th in the league in points per game allowed (3.5).

For their last game, the Thunder got the victory with a final of 108-94 when they faced the Nuggets. When it comes to how they rebounded, Oklahoma City permitted Denver to grab 35 in total (4 offensive). They finished shooting 29.5% from behind the 3-point line by going 13 of 44 and finished the game at 15 out of 26 from the free throw line (57.7%). The Thunder allowed the Nuggets to knock down 33 of 84 tries from the field which had them sitting at 39.3% for this game. When the final whistle blew, the Thunder ended up shooting 42 out of 94 from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 44.7%. In terms of 3-point shots, Oklahoma City buried 8 out of their 34 tries (23.5%). They were able to make 16 of the free throws for a rate of 84.2%. The Nuggets had 11 fouls for the game which got the Thunder to the charity stripe for 19 attempts. They also gave up possession of the ball 11 times, while getting 7 steals in this matchup. The Thunder recorded 45 defensive rebounds and 15 offensive rebounds totaling 60 for the matchup.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander pitched in for the Thunder in the game. He buried 10 out of 24 in this game giving him a field goal percentage of 41.7%, and added 11 rebounds. Gilgeous-Alexander earned 27 points in his 37 minutes on the hardwood and added 12 assists for the game.

Oklahoma City has a win-loss mark of 11-19 for the year. The Thunder are committing 17.7 personal fouls every game and they hit 75.0% from the free throw line. They are getting an assist 20.5 times per game (30th in the league) and they are losing possession via turnover 13.8 times per contest. Oklahoma City has accumulated 2,986 points so far this season (99.5 per game) and they average 46.3 boards per contest. As an offense, the Thunder are connecting on 41.5% from the field, which ranks them 29th in basketball.

The Thunder are ranked 24th in the league in PPG given up with 3.6. They are forcing their opponents into 0.4 turnovers on a nightly basis and have let teams shoot 44.4% from the field (12th in the league). The Oklahoma City defense surrenders 36.3% on 3-point attempts (14 of 40) and their opponents are connecting on 77.5% of their free throw shots. They have conceded 0.8 assists and 1.6 boards on a nightly basis, which has them ranked 27th and 30th in the league.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Oklahoma City

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