Oklahoma City Thunder vs Utah Jazz Prediction, 2/23/2023 Preview and Pick

Game: Oklahoma City Thunder vs Utah Jazz

Date: Thursday, February 23, 2023

Location: Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City, UT

TV: AT&T Sportsnet Southwest-Rocky Mountain

Odds/Point Spread: Oklahoma City (+3)

The Utah Jazz will compete against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Vivint Arena on Thursday. Utah is 3-point favorites. The total is 240.

The Thunder stepped onto the hardwood against the Rockets and walked away with a win by a score of 133-96 in their last game. Oklahoma City ended the contest with a 48.3% FG percentage (42 of 87) and made 9 out of their 34 shots from beyond the perimeter. From the charity stripe, the Thunder made 40 of their 47 tries for a rate of 85.1%. Pertaining to pulling down rebounds, they collected 49 with 10 of them being offensive. They also recorded 21 assists in this contest as well as creating 17 turnovers and earning 8 steals. When discussing defense, Oklahoma City allowed 33.7% from the field on 30 of 89 shooting. Houston distributed 20 assists and had 5 steals for the matchup. On top of that, Houston snagged 47 rebounds (14 offensive, 33 defensive) and earned 4 blocked shots. Houston walked away from this one shooting 68.4% when shooting free throws by making 26 of 38 attempts. They also converted 10 out of their 37 tries from downtown. When discussing personal fouls, the Thunder ended up finishing with 21 and the Rockets recorded 33 personal fouls.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is someone who was a contributor for the game. Gilgeous-Alexander finished the game shooting 50.0% from the field and distributed 6 dimes. He played 29 mins played and also snagged 2 rebounds. He totaled 29 points on 8 of 16 shooting.

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Oklahoma City heads into this contest with a win-loss mark of 28-29 this season. They are averaging 117.9 points per game (3rd in basketball) while shooting 47.1% from the floor. The Thunder are connecting on 36.4% on 3-point shots (694 of 1,907) and 80.3% from the free throw line. As a team, Oklahoma City is pulling in 43.7 rebounds per contest and is sitting with 1,407 assists on the year, which ranks 21st in basketball in terms of passing the rock. They are turning it over 13.5 times per game and as a unit they are committing 21.4 fouls per contest.

Defensively, the Thunder are forcing 16.9 turnovers per contest and they draw 20.1 fouls. They are 8th in basketball in giving up assists with 1,447 relinquished so far this year. The Thunder defense is allowing a field goal percentage of 47.0% (2,377 of 5,060) and they concede 46.5 rebounds per game as a group. They surrender 35.8% on 3-pointers and they are ranked 20th in basketball in opponents PPG (116.2).

In their last game, the Jazz took a loss by a final score of 117-111 against the Grizzlies. The Jazz earned 46 defensive rebounds and 15 offensive boards for a total of 61 for the game. They turned it over 23 times, while getting 2 steals in this game. The Grizzlies earned 21 fouls for this contest which took the Jazz to the free throw line for a total of 19 tries. They were able to make 15 of the free throw tries for a clip of 78.9%. When it comes to shots from 3-point land, Utah converted 12 of 36 tries (33.3%). Overall, the Jazz finished the game shooting 42 for 91 from the field which gave them a rate of 46.2%. The Jazz permitted the Grizzlies to knock down 43 out of 107 tries from the floor which left them shooting 40.2% for the contest. They finished 35.0% from three-point range by shooting 14 out of 40 and ended up going 17 of 25 from the charity stripe (68.0%). Regarding how they rebounded, Utah permitted Memphis to collect 46 overall (17 offensive).

Kelly Olynyk ended up having an impact for the Jazz for this game. He converted 9 out of 16 in this contest for a rate of 56.3%, and accumulated 14 rebounds. Olynyk totaled 28 points in his 37 minutes on the hardwood and accumulated 6 dimes in the matchup.

Utah has a win-loss mark of 29-31 for the campaign. The Jazz have committed 20.6 fouls every game and they shoot 78.8% from the free throw line. They are assisting teammates 25.7 times per contest (10th in the NBA) and they are giving up possession 15.2 times per contest. Utah has totaled 7,054 points this year (117.6 per game) and they grab 44.7 boards per game. In terms of offensive execution, the Jazz are hitting on 47.5% from the floor, which ranks them 14th in the league.

The Utah defense allows 36.2% on three-point shots (702 of 1,939) and opponents are connecting on 77.4% of their shots from the charity stripe. They relinquish 24.1 assists and 43.5 rebounds every game, which ranks 8th and 15th in basketball. The Jazz defensively are ranked 24th in the league in PPG given up with 117.2. They are forcing their opponents into 13.2 TO's per game and have allowed teams to shoot 47.9% from the field (22nd in basketball).

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Utah (-3)

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