Oklahoma City Thunder vs Phoenix Suns Prediction, 4/2/2021 NBA Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Oklahoma City Thunder vs Phoenix Suns

Date: Friday, April 2, 2021

Location: Phoenix Suns Arena in Phoenix, AZ

TV: Bally Sports AZ

Odds/Point Spread: Oklahoma City (+12)

The Phoenix Suns (33-14) host the Oklahoma City Thunder (20-27) at Phoenix Suns Arena on Friday. Phoenix opens this contest as 12-point favorites. The O/U opens at 220.

The Oklahoma City Thunder stepped onto the hardwood against the Toronto Raptors and notched a win by a score of 113-103 in their last game. Oklahoma City finished the game with a 45.3% FG percentage (39 out of 86) and buried 14 of their 33 three-point attempts. At the free throw line, the Thunder buried 21 of 28 tries for a rate of 75.0%. With regard to pulling down rebounds, they earned 64 with 19 of them being offensive. They also dished out 19 assists in this game in addition to forcing the other team into 7 turnovers and earning 2 steals. Regarding defending, Oklahoma City allowed the other team to shoot 38.9% from the field on 35 out of 90 shooting. Toronto recorded 21 assists and had 13 steals in this contest. Furthermore, Toronto snagged 35 rebounds (7 offensive, 28 defensive) and earned 6 blocks. Toronto ended up shooting 85.0% from the free throw line by knocking down 17 of their 20 attempts. They also converted 16 of their 46 attempts from three-point range.

Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk is one guy who was a major factor for this game. He walked away with 22 points on 9 of 14 shooting. He played 35:33 minutes played and pulled down 9 rebounds. Mykhailiuk walked away from this one shooting 64.3% from the floor but had no assists when the game ended. Someone else that was a factor in the game for the Thunder was Moses Brown. He pulled down 12 rebounds in his 30:05 min on the court. He finished shooting 60.0% from the floor in the game by connecting on 6-of-10 (20 points). When the final whistle blew, Brown had no assists.

Oklahoma City steps onto the court with a win-loss mark of 20-27 on the season. They average 106.3 pts per game (26th in the NBA) while shooting 44.9% from the field. The Thunder are shooting 35.0% on shots from beyond the arc (603 of 1,725) and 73.6% from the free throw line. As a team, Oklahoma City is collecting 45.1 boards per contest and has totaled 1,063 dimes for the campaign, which has them ranked 26th in the NBA in terms of passing. They turn it over 15.1 times per game and as a group they commit 17.7 personal fouls every game. On the defensive end of the court, the Thunder are forcing 13.0 turnovers per game and they draw 18.4 personal fouls. They are giving up 35.0% on shots from beyond the arc and they are 18th in the NBA in PPG allowed (112.1). The Thunder defense is giving up a shooting percentage of 46.5% (611 of 864) and they concede 47.2 rebounds per contest as a unit. They are currently ranked 16th in the league in giving up assists to their opponents with 1,151 conceded so far this season.

For their last game, the Phoenix Suns walked away with a victory by a final of 121-116 against the Chicago Bulls. The Suns recorded 28 defensive rebounds and 4 offensive boards for a total of 32 for this game. They also coughed it up 9 times, while recording 6 steals in this contest. The Bulls had 20 fouls in this matchup which took the Suns to the charity stripe for a total of 24 shots. They were able to bury 18 of the free throw tries for a percentage of 75.0%. When talking about shots from beyond the arc, Phoenix converted 11 out of 25 attempts (44.0%). In all, the Suns shot 46 for 81 from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 56.8%. The Suns allowed the Bulls to convert 43 of 99 attempts from the floor which gave them a percentage of 43.4% for this game. They finished the game shooting 33.3% from beyond the perimeter by hitting 11 of 33 and walked away from this one shooting 19 of 21 from the free throw line (90.5%). With respect to attacking the glass, Phoenix permitted Chicago to get 50 in all (18 on the offensive glass).

Devin Booker ended up having an impact for the Suns for the contest. He made 17 out of 24 in the matchup for a rate of 70.8%, and totaled 4 rebounds. Booker earned 45 points in his 35:14 mins on the court and had 4 dimes for the game. Another guy that was important for Phoenix was Chris Paul. He ended up finishing with 14 assists in his 32:02 minutes on the hardwood, and he shot 7 of 13 from the floor. Paul ended up shooting 53.8% from the floor and also notching 19 points and 3 boards.

Phoenix has a win-loss record of 33-14 on the campaign. Phoenix has scored 5,342 pts for the season (113.7 per contest) and they average 43.5 boards per contest. The Suns are committing 19.5 personal fouls every game and they connect on 83.2% from the free throw line. As an offensive team, the Suns are hitting on 48.7% from the field, which ranks them 3rd in the league. They are dishing out assists 27.0 times per game (2nd in the league) and they are losing possession via turnover 13.1 times per game. The Suns are ranked 4th in the league in PPG given up with 107.3. They surrender 21.9 dimes and 43.3 boards on a nightly basis, which ranks them 1st and 11th in basketball. The Phoenix defense gives up 34.2% on shots from beyond the arc (527 of 1,541) and opponents are connecting on 76.7% of their free throw shots. They are able to force 13.1 TO's per game and allow teams to shoot 45.5% from the field (8th in the league).

So what is Tonights Parlay prediction?

Parlay's Pundit's Pick: Take Phoenix (-12) and under 220 points

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