New York Knicks vs Oklahoma City Thunder Prediction, 12/31/2021 NBA Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: New York Knicks vs Oklahoma City Thunder

Date: Friday, December 31, 2021

Location: Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, OK

TV: Bally Sports OK

The Oklahoma City Thunder (12-22) will play the New York Knicks (17-18) at Paycom Center on Friday.

The Knicks stepped onto the hardwood against the Pistons and took home the win by a score of 94-85 in their last game. With respect to personal fouls, the Knicks ended up walking away with 14 and the Pistons finished the game with 17 personal fouls. They made 12 of their 35 tries from distance. Detroit shot 76.5% when shooting free throws by knocking down 13 of 17 attempts. Furthermore, Detroit collected 35 rebounds (8 offensive, 27 defensive) and added 5 blocks. Detroit totaled 43 assists and had 19 steals for the matchup. With respect to the defense, New York allowed their opponent to shoot 37.0% from the field on 30 of 81 shooting. They also recorded 19 assists in the matchup in addition to forcing the opposition into 5 turnovers and earning 11 steals. In relation to grabbing rebounds, they compiled 48 with 11 of them being of the offensive variety. From the free throw line, the Knicks converted 24 of their 27 tries for a rate of 88.9%. New York finished with a 38.3% field goal percentage (31 of 81) and converted 8 of their 31 shots from 3-point land.

Alec Burks is a player who was a contributor in this matchup. He ended up with 34 points on 12 of 17 shooting. He was on the hardwood for 27 mins played and pulled down 4 rebounds. Burks went 70.6% from the floor and earned 2 assists.

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New York will enter this matchup with a mark of 17-18 on the season. They are averaging 105.4 pts per contest (24th in the NBA) while hitting 43.6% from the field. The Knicks are shooting 36.1% on shots beyond the perimeter (471 of 1,303) and 78.1% from the charity stripe. As a team, New York is pulling in 45.4 boards per game and has earned 748 dimes on the year, which is 27th in the league in terms of passing the ball. They turn it over 13.5 times per contest and as a team are committing 19.0 personal fouls every game.

On defense, the Knicks have forced 12.9 turnovers per game while drawing 19.1 personal fouls. They are ranked 21st in the NBA in giving up assists to their opponents with 862 surrendered this year. The Knicks defense is giving up a shooting percentage of 43.8% (1,341 of 3,063) and they concede 44.9 rebounds per game as a team. They are giving up 34.8% on shots from distance while they are 8th in basketball in opponents PPG (105.6).

When they last stepped on the hardwood, the Thunder walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 115-97 against the Suns. The Thunder were able to pull down 31 defensive boards and 14 offensive rebounds for a total of 45 for the contest. They also coughed up the ball 11 times, while earning 6 steals for the contest. The Suns committed 14 fouls in the matchup which got the Thunder to the charity stripe for 16 attempts. They were able to bury 14 of the free throws for a rate of 87.5%. In reference to shooting from distance, Oklahoma City buried 7 of 35 tries (20.0%). At the conclusion of this game, the Thunder finished 38 for 96 from the field which had them at 39.6%. The Thunder permitted the Suns to knock down 41 out of 89 tries from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 46.1% in this matchup. They finished shooting 35.3% from downtown by connecting on 12 of 34 and ended up shooting 21 of 28 from the free throw line (75.0%). In relation to rebounding, Oklahoma City allowed Phoenix to get 38 in total (18 on the offensive side).

Ty Jerome was important for the Thunder for this game. He made 9 of 22 for this game giving him a rate of 40.9%, and accounted for 8 rebounds. Jerome scored 24 points in his 35 minutes on the court and had 5 dimes for the matchup.

Oklahoma City has a win-loss mark of 12-22 for the season. The Thunder are responsible for committing 17.9 fouls per contest and they shoot 75.6% from the charity stripe. They are assisting teammates 20.3 times per game (30th in the NBA) and they turn the ball over 13.6 times per contest. Oklahoma City has totaled 3,412 points for the year (100.4 per game) and they collect 46.2 boards per game. As an offense, the Thunder are connecting on 41.4% from the floor, which is 29th in the league.

The Thunder defensively are ranked 17th in the NBA in PPG given up with 108.2. They have forced 13.1 TO's per game and allow teams to shoot 44.4% from the field (11th in the NBA). The Oklahoma City defense surrenders 36.2% on shots from beyond the arc (479 of 1,323) and their opposition makes 77.1% of their shots from the free throw line. They have conceded 24.7 dimes and 48.6 rebounds per game, which ranks 23rd and 30th in the league.

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Oklahoma City

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