Oklahoma City Thunder vs Atlanta Hawks Prediction, 3/18/2021 NBA Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Oklahoma City Thunder vs Atlanta Hawks

Date: Thursday, March 18, 2021

Location: State Farm Arena in Atlanta, GA

TV: Fox Sports Southeast

Odds/Point Spread: Oklahoma City (+2.5)

State Farm Arena is the site where and the Atlanta Hawks (20-20) will take on the Oklahoma City Thunder (17-23) on Thursday. Atlanta opens this game as 2.5-point favorites. The total opens at 227.5.

The Oklahoma City Thunder faced the Chicago Bulls and went home with a loss by a final score of 123-102 in their last game. Oklahoma City ended the game having earned a 46.7% FG percentage (42 out of 90) and converted 7 out of their 20 3-point attempts. From the charity stripe, the Thunder knocked down 11 of 13 attempts for a rate of 84.6%. With respect to hauling in rebounds, they collected 43 with 13 of them being of the offensive sort. They also dished out 16 assists for this game as well as forcing the other team into 11 turnovers and having 9 steals. In the matter of defending, Oklahoma City allowed the other team to go 51.1% from the field on 48 out of 94 shooting. Chicago recorded 24 dimes and had 8 steals for the contest. On top of that, Chicago had 42 rebounds (12 offensive, 30 defensive) and had 9 rejections. Chicago walked away from this one shooting 83.3% when shooting free throws by burying 15 of 18 tries. They buried 12 of their 36 shots from beyond the arc.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is someone who came through for this game. He had 21 points on 10 out of 17 shooting. He played 27:37 mins and grabbed 1 board. Gilgeous-Alexander ended up going 58.8% from the field and recorded 1 assist. Another guy that had an impact in the game for the Thunder was Moses Brown. He had 16 rebounds in 29:48 min on the basketball court. He walked away from this one shooting 56.3% from the floor for this contest by shooting 9-of-16 (20 points). Overall, Brown finished the game without a dime.

Oklahoma City will play this contest with a mark of 17-23 on the season. They turn it over 14.9 times per contest and as a group are committing 18.3 personal fouls on a nightly basis. As a team, Oklahoma City is pulling down 44.5 boards per contest and is sitting with 918 dimes this year, which has them ranked 22nd in the league in terms of passing the rock. The Thunder are shooting 34.5% on shots from downtown (512 of 1,483) and 74.4% from the free throw line. They have an average of 106.4 pts per game (27th in basketball) while hitting 45.0% from the field. When they are on the defensive end, the Thunder are able to force 13.1 turnovers per game and they draw 18.4 personal fouls. They currently rank 20th in basketball in allowing assists with 987 relinquished this season. The Thunder defensively are allowing a field goal percentage of 46.4% (523 of 736) and they surrender 47.6 rebounds per contest as a squad. They are surrendering 35.0% on shots from beyond the arc and they are 18th in basketball in PPG allowed (112.1).

The last time they took the court, the Atlanta Hawks took home the win by a final score of 119-107 when they faced the Houston Rockets. The Hawks were able to snag 29 defensive rebounds and 9 offensive rebounds totaling 38 in the game. They coughed it up 12 times, while recording 8 steals in the game. The Rockets were called for 19 fouls in this game which got the Hawks to the charity stripe for 16 attempts. They were able to make 14 of them for a rate of 87.5%. When talking about shots from beyond the perimeter, Atlanta converted 17 of their 37 attempts (45.9%). When the final whistle blew, the Hawks ended up going 44 out of 86 from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 51.2%. The Hawks permitted the Rockets to knock down 42 of 88 tries from the floor which had them shooting 47.7% for this contest. They wrapped up this game 38.2% from distance by shooting 13 out of 34 and walked away from this one shooting 10 of 13 from the free throw line (76.9%). Regarding rebounding, Atlanta permitted Houston to collect 37 in total (10 offensive).

Danilo Gallinari was important for the Hawks for this contest. He converted 10 of 14 for the matchup giving him a rate of 71.4%, and had 6 rebounds. Gallinari had 29 points in his 34:09 mins on the hardwood, but left the arena with no assists. Someone else that was important for Atlanta was John Collins. He ended up with 1 assist in 32:56 mins on the court, and he converted 9 of 17 from the floor. Collins walked away from this one going 52.9% from the field while also totaling 20 points and 10 rebounds.

Atlanta has a record of 20-20 so far this year. The Hawks are committing 20.0 fouls every game and they connect on 82.1% from the charity stripe. They are earning an assist 24.3 times per game (20th in the league) and they are losing possession via turnover 14.3 times per game. Atlanta has tallied 4,515 points this season (112.9 per contest) and they pull down 45.8 rebounds per game. When it comes to offensive execution, the Hawks are connecting on 45.6% from the floor, which is ranked 21st in basketball. The Hawks on the defensive side of the court are 12th in basketball in points allowed per contest with 111.4. They surrender 24.0 assists and 42.5 rebounds per game, which is 11th and 8th in basketball. The Atlanta defense concedes 34.5% on shots from beyond the arc (469 of 1,361) and opponents are making 81.5% of their free throw attempts. They are forcing 12.5 turnovers per game and have let teams shoot 45.9% from the floor (9th in the NBA).

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Atlanta (-2.5)

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