Brooklyn Nets vs Oklahoma City Thunder Prediction, 12/31/2023 Preview and Pick

Game: Brooklyn Nets vs Oklahoma City Thunder

Date: Sunday, December 31, 2023

Location: Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, OK

TV: Bally Sports Oklahoma

Paycom Center is the location where the Oklahoma City Thunder (20-9) will compete against the Brooklyn Nets (15-16) on Sunday.

The Nets played the Bucks and took a loss by a final of 144-122 in their last contest. Regarding fouls, the Nets finished with 17 while the Bucks totaled 18 fouls. They also made 23 out of their 51 shots from distance. Milwaukee finished shooting 73.9% from the charity stripe by knocking down 17 of 23 shots. Additionally, Milwaukee collected 41 boards (8 offensive, 33 defensive) and got 2 rejections. Milwaukee recorded 41 assists and had 6 steals in the matchup. When talking about defense, Brooklyn allowed the other team to go 58.4% from the field on 52 of 89 shooting. They also doled out 29 assists in this matchup while forcing the opposition into 10 turnovers and getting 7 steals. With regard to grabbing rebounds, they earned 47 with 17 of them being on the offensive end. When they shot from the free throw line, the Nets made 25 of 29 tries for a percentage of 86.2%. Brooklyn finished having earned a 44.6% field goal percentage (45 of 101) and knocked down 7 out of their 32 three-point attempts.

Jalen Wilson is someone who was a major contributor for the game. He recorded 21 points on 5 out of 13 shooting. He played 30 minutes and grabbed 10 boards. Wilson finished 38.5% from the floor and also distributed 2 assists.

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Brooklyn comes into this one with a win-loss mark of 15-16 for the campaign. They average 116.2 pts per contest (12th in the league) while going 46.8% from the field. The Nets are shooting 38.1% on shots from distance (435 of 1,143) and 76.9% from the free throw line. As a unit, Brooklyn is pulling in 46.6 boards per contest and has earned 818 dimes this season, which is 11th in basketball in terms of passing the ball. They are losing possession via turnover 12.8 times per contest and as a group they commit 18.9 personal fouls per contest.

On defense, the Nets are forcing their opponents into 11.6 turnovers on a nightly basis while drawing 18.7 personal fouls. They are ranked 18th in the league in allowing assists to their opponents with 811 surrendered on the season. The Nets defensively are allowing a shooting percentage of 46.4% (1,311 of 2,827) and they surrender 44.3 rebounds per game as a squad. They are giving up 37.5% on shots from downtown while they are 20th in the league in PPG from their opponents (116.3).

When they last stepped on the hardwood, the Thunder walked away with a victory by a final of 129-120 against the Knicks. In regard to how they attacked the glass, Oklahoma City allowed New York to snag 40 overall (9 on the offensive side). They wrapped up this game 41.2% from three-point range by hitting 14 out of 34 and finished the game at 24 out of 30 from the free throw line (80.0%). The Thunder permitted the Knicks to make 41 of their 82 attempts from the field which gave them a percentage of 50.0% in this game. In all, the Thunder walked away from this one shooting 49 for 90 from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 54.4%. Pertaining to shooting from downtown, Oklahoma City buried 14 out of 32 attempts (43.8%). They were able to make 17 of the free throw tries for a rate of 77.3%. The Knicks earned 21 fouls in this game which got the Thunder to the free throw line for a total of 22 attempts. They also coughed it up 4 times, while earning 6 steals for the contest. The Thunder recorded 24 defensive boards and 3 offensive rebounds totaling 27 for the game.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ended up being a factor for the Thunder in the matchup. He buried 13 out of 23 in this game giving him a rate of 56.5%, and had 7 rebounds. Gilgeous-Alexander racked up 36 points in his 36 mins on the hardwood and tallied 8 assists in this game.

Oklahoma City has a win-loss record of 20-9 on the year. The Thunder commit 20.0 personal fouls every game and they shoot 85.1% from the free throw line. They are earning an assist 25.9 times per contest (17th in the league) and they lose possession via turnover 12.5 times per contest. Oklahoma City has totaled 3,517 pts on the campaign (121.3 per contest) and they collect 40.5 rebounds per game. As an offense, the Thunder are shooting 49.7% from the field, which ranks them 3rd in the NBA.

The Thunder on the defensive end are ranked 14th in the league in PPG given up with 113.6. They are able to force 16.8 TO's per game and have allowed teams to shoot 44.6% from the field (2nd in the NBA). The Oklahoma City defense concedes 36.5% on 3-pointers (405 of 1,111) and their opposition makes 79.2% of their foul shots. They have conceded 26.8 dimes and 45.7 boards per contest, which has them ranked 18th and 27th in basketball.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Brooklyn

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