Oklahoma City Thunder vs New Orleans Pelicans Prediction, 11/28/2022 Preview and Pick

Game: Oklahoma City Thunder vs New Orleans Pelicans

Date: Monday, November 28, 2022

Location: Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, LA

TV: Bally Sports New Orleans

The New Orleans Pelicans host the Oklahoma City Thunder at Smoothie King Center on Monday.

The Thunder faced off with the Rockets and walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 118-105 in their last game. Oklahoma City finished the contest with a 39.2% FG percentage (38 out of 97) and made 10 of their 44 3-pointers. At the charity stripe, the Thunder converted 19 of 23 attempts for a rate of 82.6%. In relation to grabbing boards, they collected 41 with 16 of them being on the offensive end. They also doled out 19 assists for the game in addition to forcing the other team into 24 turnovers and having 12 steals. In relation to defending, Oklahoma City allowed the other team to shoot 52.3% from the floor on 45 of 86 shooting. Houston recorded 25 assists and had 9 steals for the game. Moreover, Houston grabbed 53 rebounds (11 offensive, 42 defensive) and earned 3 rejections. Houston walked away from this one shooting 71.4% from the charity stripe by converting 10 of 14 tries. They also knocked down 18 of their 36 tries from 3-point range. In the matter of fouls, the Thunder ended up finishing with 15 while the Rockets finished the game with 19 fouls.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is one guy who was a major factor in this game. He ended up walking away with 32 points on 12 of 21 shooting. He was on the court for 28 mins and also snagged 3 rebounds. Gilgeous-Alexander shot 57.1% from the floor and recorded 3 dimes.

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Oklahoma City enters this matchup with a win-loss record of 8-12 on the season. They are averaging 116.6 points per game (6th in the league) while shooting 46.4% from the field. The Thunder are shooting 33.7% on 3-pointers (233 of 692) and 78.2% from the free throw line. As a team, Oklahoma City is snagging 44.3 boards per game and is sitting with 497 assists on the season, which ranks 13th in basketball in terms of passing. They cough up possession 13.7 times per game and as a team they are committing 22.2 personal fouls per game.

On defense, the Thunder are able to force 17.3 turnovers per game and they draw 19.7 fouls. They give up 36.6% on shots from downtown while they are 29th in basketball in points per game allowed (118.3). The Thunder defensively are allowing a shooting percentage of 46.8% (852 of 1,819) and they relinquish 49.0 boards per game as a squad. They are currently ranked 17th in basketball in giving up assists to their opponents with 493 surrendered so far this year.

When they last stepped on the hardwood, the Pelicans took a loss by a score of 132-111 against the Grizzlies. When discussing how they cleaned up the glass, New Orleans permitted Memphis to pull down 46 in total (13 on the offensive glass). They shot 47.4% from beyond the perimeter by hitting 18 of 38 and finished the contest at 20 of 27 at the free throw line (74.1%). The Pelicans permitted the Grizzlies to make 47 of their 91 tries from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 51.6% for this contest. In all, the Pelicans shot 37 out of 86 from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 43.0%. In the matter of shots from beyond the perimeter, New Orleans made 10 of their 31 tries (32.3%). They were able to convert 27 of the free throw attempts for a percentage of 87.1%. The Grizzlies were called for 20 personal fouls for the game which took the Pelicans to the free throw line for 31 shots. They gave up possession 13 times, while earning 9 steals in this contest. The Pelicans collected 30 defensive rebounds and 11 offensive boards for a total of 41 in the game.

Trey Murphy III was important for the Pelicans for this contest. He knocked down 7 out of 14 for this game for a field goal rate of 50.0%, and had 3 rebounds. Murphy III accumulated 21 points in his 26 minutes on the hardwood and had 1 assist in this contest.

New Orleans has a record of 11-8 so far this year. In terms of offensive execution, the Pelicans are hitting on 48.6% from the field, which is ranked 5th in basketball. New Orleans has totaled 2,228 pts for the season (117.3 per game) and they average 44.6 boards per game. They are earning an assist 27.4 times per game (6th in the league) and they are turning it over 14.4 times per game. The Pelicans commit 19.8 personal fouls per game while shooting 77.7% from the free throw line.

The Pelicans on the defensive side of the court are 11th in the league in PPG given up with 111.7. They are able to force 16.2 turnovers on a nightly basis and allow teams to shoot 46.9% from the field (20th in the league). The New Orleans defense allows 33.3% on shots from beyond the arc (231 of 693) and opponents are knocking down 79.2% of their free throw attempts. They allow 25.5 dimes and 42.0 boards per game, which is ranked 17th and 7th in the NBA.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Oklahoma City

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