Oklahoma City Thunder vs Phoenix Suns Prediction, 2/24/2023 Preview and Pick

Game: Oklahoma City Thunder vs Phoenix Suns

Date: Friday, February 24, 2023

Location: Footprint Center in Phoenix, AZ

TV: Bally Sports Arizona

Odds/Point Spread: Oklahoma City (+8)

The Oklahoma City Thunder are headed to Footprint Center on Friday where they will try to defeat the Phoenix Suns. Phoenix opens this matchup as 8-point favorites. The total comes in at 232.

The Thunder faced off with the Rockets and went home with a win by a final score of 133-96 in their last contest. With respect to fouls, the Thunder ended up with 21 while the Rockets finished the game with 33 fouls. They made 10 out of their 37 attempts from beyond the perimeter. Houston shot 68.4% from the charity stripe by knocking down 26 of 38 shots. On top of that, Houston collected 47 rebounds (14 offensive, 33 defensive) and added 4 blocks. Houston earned 20 assists and had 5 steals for the game. Pertaining to defense, Oklahoma City allowed 33.7% from the floor on 30 of 89 shooting. They also doled out 21 assists for the matchup in addition to forcing 17 turnovers and earning 8 steals. When it comes to getting rebounds, they earned 49 with 10 of them being of the offensive variety. From the charity stripe, the Thunder buried 40 of their 47 shots for a rate of 85.1%. Oklahoma City finished the game with a 48.3% field goal percentage (42 of 87) and converted 9 of 34 3-point shots.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is someone who played a role for the matchup. He left the arena with 29 points on 8 of 16 shooting. He saw the court for 29 mins and also grabbed 2 boards. Gilgeous-Alexander finished the game shooting 50.0% from the floor and also totaled 6 assists.

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Oklahoma City heads into this matchup with a win-loss mark of 28-29 on the year. They lose possession via turnover 13.5 times per game and as a group are committing 21.4 personal fouls every game. As a team, Oklahoma City is grabbing 43.7 boards per game and has tallied 1,407 dimes on the year, which has them ranked 21st in basketball in terms of passing the ball. The Thunder are connecting on 36.4% on shots from beyond the arc (694 of 1,907) and 80.3% from the free throw line. They average 117.9 points per contest (3rd in the NBA) on 47.1% from the field.

On defense, the Thunder are able to force 16.9 turnovers per game and they draw 20.1 fouls. They currently rank 8th in basketball in giving up assists with 1,447 conceded for the year. The Thunder are giving up a FG percentage of 47.0% (2,377 of 5,060) and they relinquish 46.5 boards per contest as a team. They are relinquishing 35.8% on three-point shots and they are ranked 20th in the NBA in points per game allowed (116.2).

In their last game, the Suns took a loss by a score of 116-107 when they faced the Clippers. The Suns were able to pull down 31 defensive boards and 7 offensive boards totaling 38 in the game. They also gave up possession 12 times, while recording 10 steals for the contest. The Clippers committed 19 fouls for the matchup which took the Suns to the free throw line for a total of 16 tries. They were able to make 12 of those for a clip of 75.0%. In the matter of 3-point shots, Phoenix converted 11 of 31 tries (35.5%). When the game finished, the Suns finished shooting 42 for 89 from the floor which had them sitting at 47.2%. The Suns allowed the Clippers to bury 40 out of their 82 tries from the floor which gave them a percentage of 48.8% in the matchup. They went 32.4% from three-point range by going 11 out of 34 and ended up going 25 of 27 from the free throw line (92.6%). When it comes to cleaning up the glass, Phoenix allowed Los Angeles to snag 43 in all (8 offensive).

Josh Okogie ended up having an impact for the Suns for the matchup. He converted 9 of 16 in this matchup for a rate of 56.3%, and added 5 rebounds. Okogie totaled 24 points in his 41 mins on the court and had 1 assist for the matchup.

Phoenix has a win-loss record of 32-28 on the year. The Suns commit 21.0 personal fouls per contest and they hit 79.3% from the charity stripe. They are dishing out assists 27.2 times per game (3rd in the NBA) and they are losing possession via turnover 14.2 times per game. Phoenix has scored 6,761 points so far this year (112.7 per game) and they pull down 43.9 rebounds per contest. In terms of offensive execution, the Suns are shooting 46.5% from the floor, which is ranked 22nd in basketball.

The Suns on the defensive side of the court are 5th in the NBA in points allowed per contest with 111.3. They are forcing 15.0 turnovers per game and have let teams shoot 46.7% from the floor (8th in basketball). The Phoenix defense allows 35.9% on 3-point attempts (683 of 1,901) and opponents are knocking down 79.1% of their foul shots. They have allowed 23.6 assists and 42.9 total rebounds per game, which is 5th and 11th in the NBA.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Phoenix (-8)

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