Oklahoma City Thunder vs Portland Blazers Prediction, 4/3/2021 NBA Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Oklahoma City Thunder vs Portland Blazers

Date: Saturday, April 3, 2021

Location: Moda Center in Portland, OR

TV: NBC Sports Northwest

Odds/Point Spread: Oklahoma City (+12)

The Portland Blazers (29-18) host the Oklahoma City Thunder (20-27) at Moda Center on Saturday. Portland opens this contest as 12-point favorites. The over/under opens at 226.

The Oklahoma City Thunder played the Toronto Raptors and walked away with a win by a score of 113-103 in their last contest. Oklahoma City finished having earned a 45.3% field goal percentage (39 out of 86) and converted 14 out of their 33 three-point shots. At the free throw line, the Thunder knocked down 21 of 28 shots for a percentage of 75.0%. Concerning hauling in rebounds, they earned 64 with 19 of them being of the offensive variety. They also recorded 19 assists in the game as well as forcing the other team into 7 turnovers and earning 2 steals. When discussing the defense, Oklahoma City allowed their opponent to shoot 38.9% from the floor on 35 of 90 shooting. Toronto distributed 21 assists and had 13 steals in this contest. Additionally, Toronto had 35 rebounds (7 offensive, 28 defensive) and got 6 blocks. Toronto walked away from this one shooting 85.0% from the charity stripe by making 17 of their 20 shots. They also made 16 out of their 46 attempts from beyond the arc.

Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk is one player who played a role for the matchup. He ended up scoring 22 points on 9 of 14 shooting. He was on the hardwood for 35:33 minutes and also grabbed 9 rebounds. Mykhailiuk shot 64.3% from the floor but finished the game without an assist. Another guy that came through in the matchup for the Thunder was Moses Brown. He pulled down 12 rebounds in 30:05 min played on the night. He finished the game shooting 60.0% from the floor for this contest via 6-of-10 (20 points). In all, Brown finished the game without a dime.

Oklahoma City heads into this matchup with a win-loss mark of 20-27 for the year. They average 106.3 pts per contest (26th in the league) while hitting 44.9% from the field. The Thunder are shooting 35.0% on shots from downtown (603 of 1,725) and 73.6% from the charity stripe. As a team, Oklahoma City is collecting 45.1 boards per game and has racked up 1,063 assists for the year, which ranks 26th in basketball in terms of passing. They are giving up possession 15.1 times per game and as a team they are committing 17.7 fouls on a nightly basis. On defense, the Thunder have forced 13.0 turnovers per game while drawing 18.4 fouls. The Thunder are giving up an opponent FG percentage of 46.5% (611 of 864) and they relinquish 47.2 boards per game as a group. They are currently ranked 12th in basketball in allowing assists with 1,151 relinquished for the campaign. They surrender 35.0% from 3-point land while they are 18th in the NBA in points per game allowed (112.1).

The last time they took the court, the Portland Blazers got the victory with a final of 124-101 against the Detroit Pistons. The Blazers collected 37 defensive rebounds and 6 offensive boards totaling 43 for the contest. They also turned it over 13 times, while earning 11 steals for the game. The Pistons committed 26 fouls in the game which got the Blazers to the free throw line for 26 shots. They were able to make 24 of the free throws for a percentage of 92.3%. In regard to shooting from beyond the arc, Portland buried 16 out of 30 tries (53.3%). In all, the Blazers finished shooting 42 out of 82 from the field which gave them a rate of 51.2%. The Blazers allowed the Pistons to convert 40 out of their 86 tries from the field which had them shooting 46.5% for the game. They finished 33.3% from beyond the perimeter by going 9 out of 27 and walked away from this one shooting 12 of 17 from the free throw line (70.6%). In relation to how they rebounded, Portland allowed Detroit to get 36 in total (5 offensive).

Damian Lillard ended up being a major contributor for the Blazers for this contest. He converted 9 out of 19 for the game giving him a field goal percentage of 47.4%, and accumulated 4 rebounds. Lillard totaled 33 points in his 36:23 mins on the court and accumulated 10 assists in the game. An additional guy who was a determining factor for Portland was CJ McCollum. He finished this one with 6 dimes in 35:55 minutes played, and he knocked down 8 out of 16 from the floor. McCollum walked away from this one going 50.0% from the floor as well as earning 24 points and 3 rebounds.

Portland has a record of 29-18 so far this season. On the offensive side of the court, the Blazers are shooting 44.8% from the field, which ranks 25th in the league. Portland has accumulated 5,403 points for the year (115.0 per contest) and they pull in 43.5 rebounds per game. They are dishing out assists 20.4 times per contest (30th in the league) and they are turning it over 11.4 times per game. The Blazers have committed 19.3 personal fouls per game and they connect on 83.6% from the charity stripe. The Blazers on the defensive end are ranked 27th in basketball in points given up per game with 115.2. The Portland defense gives up 37.7% from downtown (613 of 1,624) and their opponents are converting on 77.3% of their shots from the free throw line. They relinquish 25.4 assists and 45.7 rebounds every game, which is 23rd and 22nd in the league. They are able to force 12.8 TO's per game and have allowed teams to shoot 48.0% from the field (28th in the league).

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Oklahoma City (+12)

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