Oklahoma City Thunder vs Portland Trail Blazers Prediction, 3/26/2023 Preview and Pick

Game: Oklahoma City Thunder vs Portland Trail Blazers

Date: Sunday, March 26, 2023

Location: Moda Center in Portland, OR

TV: ROOT Sports

Moda Center is the location where the Portland Trail Blazers will attempt to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday.

The Thunder faced off with the Lakers and went home with a loss by a final score of 116-111 in their last game. Oklahoma City finished with a 43.5% FG percentage (40 out of 92) and made 14 of 36 shots from beyond the arc. When they shot from the charity stripe, the Thunder converted 17 of their 19 tries for a rate of 89.5%. In the matter of rebounding, they collected a total of 45 with 12 of them being on the offensive end. They also distributed 21 assists in this game while forcing the other team into 11 turnovers and earning 6 steals. Regarding defense, Oklahoma City allowed the other team to shoot 46.2% from the floor on 42 of 91 shooting. Los Angeles doled out 20 assists and had 9 steals for the game. Additionally, Los Angeles collected 53 rebounds (16 offensive, 37 defensive) and had 5 blocked shots. Los Angeles finished the game at 71.4% from the charity stripe by burying 20 of their 28 tries. They buried 12 out of their 34 shots from downtown. With respect to personal fouls, the Thunder ended up with 19 and the Lakers accounted for 14 personal fouls.

Josh Giddey is someone who was a contributor for the matchup. He totaled 27 points on 12 out of 24 shooting. He was on the court for 39 minutes and also pulled down 17 rebounds. Giddey went 50.0% from the field and recorded 7 assists.

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Oklahoma City will enter this matchup with a win-loss mark of 36-38 so far this season. They are averaging 117.4 pts per game (5th in the NBA) while hitting 46.6% from the field. The Thunder are connecting on 36.0% on shots beyond the perimeter (909 of 2,528) and 80.8% from the charity stripe. As a team, Oklahoma City is grabbing 43.7 rebounds per game and has earned 1,811 dimes on the year, which is 19th in the league in terms of passing the ball. They are turning it over 13.2 times per game and as a team they are committing 21.1 fouls every game.

When they are on defense, the Thunder are forcing 16.9 turnovers per contest while drawing 20.2 personal fouls. They are ranked 20th in basketball in allowing assists to the opposition with 1,912 surrendered for the season. The Thunder defense is giving up an opponent FG percentage of 47.2% (3,087 of 6,547) and they surrender 46.7 boards per game as a group. They are giving up 35.9% on 3-pointers and they rank 19th in the league in opponents PPG (116.3).

When they last stepped on the hardwood, the Trail Blazers went home defeated by a final of 124-96 against the Bulls. Regarding attacking the glass, Portland allowed Chicago to grab 47 in total (11 on the offensive side). They finished shooting 60.7% from behind the 3-point line by shooting 17 out of 28 and walked away from this one shooting 11 of 14 from the free throw line (78.6%). The Trail Blazers allowed the Bulls to make 48 out of 84 tries from the floor which had them shooting 57.1% in the game. When this game wrapped up, the Trail Blazers shot 37 out of 86 from the floor which gave them a rate of 43.0%. Regarding 3-pointers, Portland made 6 out of their 31 attempts (19.4%). They were able to knock down 16 of them for a clip of 88.9%. The Bulls committed 19 fouls for the contest which got the Trail Blazers to the free throw line for 18 shots. They also gave up possession 12 times, while earning 10 steals in the matchup. The Trail Blazers were able to corral 23 defensive boards and 8 offensive rebounds for a total of 31 for the contest.

Shaedon Sharpe ended up having an impact for the Trail Blazers for the contest. He made 9 out of 20 in the matchup for a rate of 45.0%, and totaled 4 rebounds. Sharpe earned 24 points in his 38 minutes on the court and had 2 dimes for the game.

Portland has a record of 32-41 on the campaign. The Trail Blazers are committing 20.3 personal fouls every game and they shoot 80.3% from the charity stripe. They are earning an assist 24.1 times per game (22nd in basketball) and they are turning it over 14.5 times per game. Portland has accumulated 8,334 pts on the campaign (114.2 per contest) and they pull down 41.0 boards per contest. When it comes to offensive execution, the Trail Blazers are shooting 47.8% from the field, which is ranked 12th in the league.

The Portland defense gives up 37.5% on 3-point attempts (890 of 2,374) and opponents are knocking down 78.2% of their free throw attempts. They relinquish 26.4 assists and 42.4 total boards per game, which ranks them 29th and 11th in the NBA. The Trail Blazers defensively are ranked 18th in the league in points per game surrendered with 116.2. They are able to force 13.5 TO's per game and allow teams to shoot 48.8% from the field (26th in the league).

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Oklahoma City

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