Washington Wizards vs Oklahoma City Thunder Prediction, 1/6/2023 Preview and Pick

Game: Washington Wizards vs Oklahoma City Thunder

Date: Friday, January 6, 2023

Location: Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, OK

TV: Bally Sports Oklahoma

Paycom Center is the location where the Oklahoma City Thunder will try to beat the Washington Wizards on Friday.

The Wizards stepped onto the hardwood against the Bucks and went home with a loss by a final score of 123-113 in their last game. Regarding personal fouls, the Wizards finished with 16 while the Bucks accumulated 14 personal fouls. They also converted 11 of their 40 attempts from 3-point range. Milwaukee went 94.1% from the free throw line by making 16 of their 17 tries. On top of that, Milwaukee snagged 49 rebounds (15 offensive, 34 defensive) and got 4 rejections. Milwaukee dished out 27 dimes and had 8 steals for the matchup. When talking about defense, Washington allowed the other team to go 48.0% from the field on 48 of 100 shooting. They also dished out 27 assists in this contest while forcing 12 turnovers and getting 9 steals. In regard to pulling down boards, they compiled a total of 46 with 14 of them being on the offensive end. From the charity stripe, the Wizards converted 21 of their 23 shots for a rate of 91.3%. Washington ended the contest with a 43.3% field goal percentage (42 of 97) and made 8 out of their 27 three-point shots.

Kristaps Porzingis is a player who came through in the game. Porzingis finished the contest at 53.8% from the field and recorded 4 assists. He played for 35 mins and also collected 9 boards. He had 22 points on 7 of 13 shooting.

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Washington comes into this game with a win-loss mark of 17-22 for the year. They are giving up possession 13.9 times per contest and as a group are committing 19.3 fouls per contest. As a unit, Washington is snagging 43.9 boards per contest and has racked up 976 assists for the season, which is 12th in basketball in terms of passing the rock. The Wizards are hitting 34.4% on shots beyond the perimeter (422 of 1,228) and 77.1% from the free throw line. They currently have an average of 112.1 points per game (21st in basketball) on 48.1% from the floor.

Defensively, the Wizards have forced 12.8 turnovers on a nightly basis while drawing 19.3 personal fouls. They currently rank 8th in the NBA in giving up assists to the opposition with 927 surrendered on the year. The Wizards defense is giving up a FG percentage of 46.1% (1,608 of 3,490) and they relinquish 43.3 rebounds per game as a unit. They give up 36.1% on 3-point attempts and they are ranked 13th in basketball in points per game allowed (112.7).

When they last stepped on the court, the Thunder walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 126-115 against the Magic. The Thunder collected 24 defensive rebounds and 9 offensive rebounds totaling 33 for this contest. They coughed up the ball 9 times, while recording 9 steals in this matchup. The Magic committed 22 fouls for the contest which got the Thunder to the free throw line for a total of 31 tries. They were able to knock down 28 of them for a rate of 90.3%. In reference to 3-point shots, Oklahoma City knocked down 15 of their 37 tries (40.5%). In all, the Thunder shot 36 for 89 from the floor which had them at 40.4%. The Thunder allowed the Magic to convert 42 out of their 81 tries from the floor which left them with a shooting percentage of 51.9% in this contest. They shot 39.4% from behind the 3-point line by shooting 13 out of 33 and ended up going 29 of 36 from the free throw line (80.6%). With respect to rebounding, Oklahoma City allowed Orlando to snag 49 in all (13 offensive).

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was important for the Thunder in this game. He knocked down 8 of 19 for the matchup giving him a field goal percentage of 42.1%, and had 4 rebounds. Gilgeous-Alexander recorded 33 points in his 35 minutes on the hardwood and tallied 4 dimes in the matchup.

Oklahoma City has a record of 16-22 so far this year. As an offensive team, the Thunder are hitting on 46.1% from the floor, which has them ranked 23rd in the league. Oklahoma City has accounted for 4,412 pts for the campaign (116.1 per contest) and they pull in 44.3 boards per game. Their rate of assisting teammates is at 24.0 times per game (21st in the league) and they lose possession via turnover 14.3 times per contest. The Thunder are committing 21.7 personal fouls per game and they hit 79.3% from the free throw line.

The Oklahoma City defense surrenders 36.1% on 3-pointers (492 of 1,362) and opponents are connecting on 78.0% of their free throw shots. They have surrendered 25.2 assists and 48.1 rebounds every game, which ranks 13th and 30th in the league. The Thunder are ranked 25th in the league in points allowed per game with 117.1. They are able to force 16.9 TO's every game and have let teams shoot 46.8% from the floor (12th in basketball).

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Washington

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