Utah Jazz vs Oklahoma City Thunder Prediction, 3/3/2023 Preview and Pick

Game: Utah Jazz vs Oklahoma City Thunder

Date: Friday, March 3, 2023

Location: Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, OK

TV: Bally Sports Oklahoma

The Utah Jazz are on their way to Paycom Center on Friday where they will take on the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Jazz faced the Spurs and walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 102-94 in their last game. In relation to personal fouls, the Jazz ended up walking away with 15 while the Spurs recorded 22 personal fouls. They converted 8 of their 26 tries from beyond the arc. San Antonio finished shooting 64.0% at the free throw line by converting 16 of 25 shots. Additionally, San Antonio pulled down 45 rebounds (9 offensive, 36 defensive) and had 9 blocks. San Antonio distributed 23 assists and had 9 steals for this game. In relation to the defense, Utah allowed their opponent to shoot 42.9% from the field on 39 of 91 shooting. They also distributed 15 dimes for the contest in addition to forcing the other team into 12 turnovers and getting 8 steals. Concerning rebounding, they compiled a total of 52 with 14 of them being of the offensive sort. From the free throw line, the Jazz knocked down 24 of 36 attempts for a percentage of 66.7%. Utah ended the game having earned a 35.3% FG percentage (30 out of 85) and converted 10 of their 34 3-pointers.

Lauri Markkanen is one player who was a major factor for the game. Markkanen went 42.9% from the floor and distributed 1 assist. He played for 35 mins and also collected 10 boards. He accumulated 28 points on 9 out of 21 shooting.

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Utah steps onto the hardwood with a mark of 31-32 on the campaign. They have an average of 117.2 pts per game (5th in the league) while hitting 47.2% from the field. The Jazz are hitting 35.9% from downtown (878 of 2,443) and 78.7% from the charity stripe. As a team, Utah is pulling in 45.2 boards per game and has earned 1,614 dimes this season, which has them ranked 10th in basketball in terms of passing the rock. They are giving up possession 15.4 times per game and as a group are committing 20.6 fouls on a nightly basis.

On defense, the Jazz are able to force 13.1 turnovers every game while drawing 21.2 personal fouls. They concede 35.7% on shots from beyond the perimeter and they are ranked 21st in the league in points per game allowed (116.8). The Jazz are giving up an opponent FG percentage of 47.5% (2,726 of 5,734) and they concede 43.7 boards per contest as a group. They are ranked 8th in the NBA in allowing assists with 1,515 surrendered so far this season.

For their last game, the Thunder took a defeat with a final score of 123-117 when they faced the Lakers. The Thunder were able to collect 30 defensive boards and 12 offensive boards for a total of 42 for the matchup. They also coughed up the ball 11 times, while earning 8 steals in this matchup. The Lakers earned 19 fouls in the matchup which got the Thunder to the free throw line for 24 tries. They were able to make 18 of the free throw tries for a clip of 75.0%. Concerning shots from 3-point land, Oklahoma City made 11 out of 40 attempts (27.5%). At the conclusion of this game, the Thunder ended up shooting 44 out of 91 from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 48.4%. The Thunder allowed the Lakers to bury 38 out of 80 attempts from the field which had them shooting 47.5% in the game. They went 45.7% from three-point range via 16 of 35 and finished the game at 31 of 39 from the free throw line (79.5%). Regarding how they attacked the glass, Oklahoma City allowed Los Angeles to snag 41 in total (10 offensive).

Jalen Williams was important for the Thunder in the matchup. Williams racked up 24 points in his 34 minutes on the hardwood and had 7 assists for the matchup. He made 9 of 17 for the game giving him a rate of 52.9%, and had 4 rebounds.

Oklahoma City has a record of 28-34 this season. The Thunder are responsible for committing 21.5 fouls per game and they hit 80.0% from the free throw line. They are getting an assist 24.8 times per game (18th in the league) and they turn it over 13.4 times per game. Oklahoma City has totaled 7,303 pts so far this season (117.8 per game) and they pull in 43.8 rebounds per game. When it comes to offense, the Thunder are connecting on 46.9% from the floor, which is ranked 19th in basketball.

The Oklahoma City defense surrenders 35.9% on 3-point shots (799 of 2,224) and their opponents are connecting on 78.0% of their free throw attempts. They relinquish 25.5 assists and 46.8 rebounds on a nightly basis, which ranks them 16th and 30th in the league. The Thunder on the defensive end are ranked 20th in basketball in PPG given up with 116.8. They are forcing 16.9 turnovers per game and have allowed teams to shoot 47.1% from the field (13th in basketball).

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Oklahoma City

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