Oklahoma City Thunder vs Charlotte Hornets Prediction, 12/29/2022 Preview and Pick

Game: Oklahoma City Thunder vs Charlotte Hornets

Date: Thursday, December 29, 2022

Location: Spectrum Center in Charlotte, NC

TV: Bally Sports Southeast-Charlotte

The Oklahoma City Thunder are traveling to Spectrum Center on Thursday where they will take on the Charlotte Hornets.

The Thunder faced the Spurs and took home the win by a score of 130-114 in their last contest. Concerning personal fouls, the Thunder finished with 18 and the Spurs recorded 21 personal fouls. They also knocked down 10 of their 29 attempts from downtown. San Antonio finished the contest at 85.7% at the charity stripe by knocking down 12 of their 14 attempts. Additionally, San Antonio grabbed 41 rebounds (16 offensive, 25 defensive) and had 10 blocks. San Antonio earned 20 dimes and had 9 steals in the game. In relation to defending, Oklahoma City allowed their opponent to shoot 46.5% from the floor on 46 of 99 shooting. They also dished out 25 dimes for this game while forcing the other team into 14 turnovers and earning 10 steals. When discussing pulling down rebounds, they earned 45 with 13 of them being offensive. At the charity stripe, the Thunder converted 25 of their 31 attempts for a rate of 80.6%. Oklahoma City wrapped up the game with a 53.5% field goal percentage (46 of 86) and converted 13 of their 24 3-point shots.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is one guy who played a role for the game. Gilgeous-Alexander finished 64.3% from the floor and totaled 8 dimes. He was on the hardwood for 33 minutes played and also totaled 6 boards. He walked away with 28 points on 9 out of 14 shooting.

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Oklahoma City heads into this contest with a mark of 15-19 this year. They are averaging 115.8 pts per game (8th in the league) while hitting 46.2% from the field. The Thunder are connecting on 34.8% on 3-point shots (395 of 1,135) and 79.5% from the charity stripe. As a unit, Oklahoma City is collecting 44.6 rebounds per game and has racked up 827 assists for the year, which has them ranked 15th in the NBA in terms of passing the rock. They lose possession via turnover 14.5 times per contest and as a team are committing 21.4 personal fouls on a nightly basis.

On the defensive end, the Thunder are forcing 16.9 turnovers per contest and they draw 20.0 personal fouls. They concede 36.5% on 3-pointers and they rank 25th in the league in points per game allowed (116.8). The Thunder are giving up a FG percentage of 46.5% (1,434 of 3,084) and they surrender 48.0 rebounds per game as a team. They are ranked 11th in basketball in giving up assists to their opponents with 839 surrendered this year.

In their last game, the Hornets took a loss by a final score of 110-105 against the Warriors. When talking about team rebounding, Charlotte allowed Golden State to get 49 in all (9 on the offensive glass). They finished 21.6% from three-point range via 8 of 37 and finished the contest at 20 out of 24 from the free throw line (83.3%). The Hornets allowed the Warriors to make 41 of their 95 attempts from the field which had them shooting 43.2% for the matchup. When all was said and done, the Hornets finished 38 out of 92 from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 41.3%. With respect to shots from downtown, Charlotte knocked down 10 out of 38 attempts (26.3%). They were able to make 19 of the free throws for a percentage of 76.0%. The Warriors were called for 22 personal fouls in the matchup which got the Hornets to the free throw line for a total of 25 attempts. They also turned it over 12 times, while getting 6 steals in this matchup. The Hornets were able to corral 38 defensive rebounds and 9 offensive rebounds for a total of 47 in this game.

LaMelo Ball was important for the Hornets for this game. He knocked down 7 of 25 in the matchup giving him a rate of 28.0%, and had 10 rebounds. Ball scored 21 points in his 35 minutes on the court and accumulated 4 assists in this matchup.

Charlotte has a record of 9-26 so far this year. The Hornets commit 21.5 fouls every game and they hit 74.6% from the free throw line. Their rate of dishing out assists is at 24.7 times per contest (15th in basketball) and they cough up possession 14.1 times per game. Charlotte has 3,891 points this year (111.2 per contest) and they pull in 45.6 rebounds per game. As an offense, the Hornets are connecting on 44.4% from the floor, which ranks them 30th in the league.

The Charlotte defense gives up 36.0% on shots from beyond the arc (443 of 1,232) and their opponents are making 78.4% of their foul shots. They relinquish 26.6 assists and 46.3 rebounds every game, which is ranked 28th and 29th in the NBA. The Hornets on the defensive end are ranked 28th in basketball in points allowed per game with 118.0. They are forcing 15.5 TO's per game and have allowed teams to shoot 48.0% from the floor (23rd in basketball).

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Oklahoma City

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