Oklahoma City Thunder vs New Orleans Pelicans Prediction, 3/11/2023 Preview and Pick

Game: Oklahoma City Thunder vs New Orleans Pelicans

Date: Saturday, March 11, 2023

Location: Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, LA

TV: Bally Sports New Orleans

The Oklahoma City Thunder are traveling to Smoothie King Center on Saturday where they will compete against the New Orleans Pelicans.

The Thunder faced off with the Suns and took a loss by a final of 132-101 in their last contest. Oklahoma City ended the game having earned a 37.5% field goal percentage (33 of 88) and converted 15 of their 43 shots from beyond the perimeter. At the free throw line, the Thunder made 20 of their 21 tries for a percentage of 95.2%. In terms of rebounding, they earned 37 with 7 of them being on the offensive end. They also recorded 23 assists for this game as well as forcing the opposition into 14 turnovers and having 9 steals. In reference to the defense, Oklahoma City allowed their opponent to shoot 52.1% from the field on 49 out of 94 shooting. Phoenix distributed 31 assists and had 10 steals in this game. Moreover, Phoenix had 54 rebounds (14 offensive, 40 defensive) and earned 2 blocks. Phoenix finished the contest at 87.5% from the free throw line by burying 14 of 16 shots. They also knocked down 20 of their 43 tries from beyond the arc. With respect to personal fouls, the Thunder ended up finishing with 13 while the Suns racked up 17 personal fouls.

Lindy Waters III is one guy who was a factor for the contest. He finished with 23 points on 7 of 14 shooting. He played for 30 mins and totaled 4 rebounds. Waters ended up shooting 50.0% from the field and also recorded 2 assists.

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Oklahoma City will take the court with a mark of 31-35 so far this season. They average 118.2 points per contest (2nd in basketball) while going 47.0% from the field. The Thunder are shooting 36.2% on shots from downtown (818 of 2,257) and 80.2% from the charity stripe. As a unit, Oklahoma City is grabbing 43.6 rebounds per contest and has racked up 1,644 dimes on the year, which has them ranked 18th in basketball in terms of passing the ball. They are turning it over 13.4 times per contest and as a squad they are committing 21.3 fouls per contest.

When they are on defense, the Thunder are forcing their opponents into 17.0 turnovers on a nightly basis and they draw 20.3 personal fouls. They are giving up 36.0% on shots from beyond the arc while they are 20th in the league in opponents points per game (117.0). The Thunder defensively are giving up a FG percentage of 47.3% (2,764 of 5,846) and they concede 46.6 boards per game as a group. They currently rank 20th in the NBA in giving up assists with 1,705 conceded so far this season.

When they last stepped on the court, the Pelicans walked away with a victory by a final of 113-106 against the Mavericks. With respect to rebounds, New Orleans allowed Dallas to collect 34 overall (5 on the offensive glass). They finished the game shooting 34.8% from behind the 3-point line via 16 out of 46 and ended up going 14 out of 19 from the charity stripe (73.7%). The Pelicans permitted the Mavericks to convert 38 of their 88 attempts from the floor which left them with a shooting percentage of 43.2% for the contest. Overall, the Pelicans shot 42 out of 83 from the field which had them sitting at 50.6%. In reference to shooting from 3-point land, New Orleans knocked down 13 out of their 27 attempts (48.1%). They were able to bury 16 of the free throws for a clip of 88.9%. The Mavericks committed 18 personal fouls in the matchup which took the Pelicans to the free throw line for 18 shots. They also coughed it up 15 times, while getting 4 steals for this game. The Pelicans earned 40 defensive rebounds and 9 offensive rebounds totaling 49 for the game.

CJ McCollum was important for the Pelicans in the game. McCollum had 32 points in his 35 mins on the court and accumulated 5 assists for the contest. He knocked down 12 of 22 in the game for a field goal rate of 54.5%, and had 5 rebounds.

New Orleans has a record of 32-34 on the year. The Pelicans are responsible for committing 20.7 personal fouls per game and they shoot 78.4% from the charity stripe. They are dishing out assists 25.7 times per game (8th in the NBA) and they turn it over 14.7 times per contest. New Orleans has tallied 7,529 points for the season (114.1 per contest) and they average 43.7 rebounds per game. As an offense, the Pelicans are shooting 47.9% from the field, which ranks them 11th in the NBA.

The Pelicans on defense are ranked 16th in basketball in PPG allowed with 113.4. They are forcing 15.0 TO's every game and have let teams shoot 47.5% from the floor (16th in the league). The New Orleans defense surrenders 34.0% on shots from beyond the perimeter (812 of 2,390) and opponents are converting on 78.1% of their shots from the charity stripe. They concede 25.2 assists and 42.1 rebounds per contest, which has them ranked 13th and 9th in the league.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take New Orleans

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