Oklahoma City Thunder vs New Orleans Pelicans Prediction, 1/26/2024 Preview and Pick

Game: Oklahoma City Thunder vs New Orleans Pelicans

Date: Friday, January 26, 2024

Location: Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, LA

TV: Bally Sports New Orleans

Smoothie King Center is where the New Orleans Pelicans (26-18) will go up against the Oklahoma City Thunder (31-13) on Friday.

The Thunder stepped onto the hardwood against the Spurs and went home with a win by a final score of 140-114 in their last contest. In the matter of personal fouls, the Thunder walked away with 20 and the Spurs totaled 14 personal fouls. They made 9 of 32 attempts from three-point range. San Antonio walked away from this one shooting 76.0% from the charity stripe by knocking down 19 of their 25 tries. Additionally, San Antonio pulled down 38 boards (12 offensive, 26 defensive) and had 8 blocks. San Antonio totaled 30 dimes and had 7 steals in this contest. When discussing defending, Oklahoma City allowed the other team to go 50.0% from the floor on 43 out of 86 shooting. They also doled out 36 assists in the matchup as well as creating 18 turnovers and getting 11 steals. Regarding pulling down boards, they earned 47 with 16 of them being of the offensive sort. At the charity stripe, the Thunder converted 14 of their 16 tries for a percentage of 87.5%. Oklahoma City finished the contest with a 56.3% field goal percentage (54 of 96) and knocked down 18 out of their 40 3-point attempts.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is a guy who played a role for the matchup. Gilgeous-Alexander finished the game shooting 60.0% from the field and recorded 10 assists. He played for 29 mins played and snagged 6 rebounds. He finished with 32 points on 9 out of 15 shooting.

Get all of our NBA Betting Picks

Oklahoma City steps onto the court with a mark of 31-13 on the campaign. They are averaging 121.9 pts per game (3rd in the NBA) while shooting 50.5% from the floor. The Thunder are connecting on 39.2% on shots from 3-point land (576 of 1,471) and 83.5% from the free throw line. As a team, Oklahoma City is pulling down 41.1 boards per game and is sitting with 1,210 dimes this season, which has them ranked 7th in basketball in terms of passing the ball. They turn it over 12.6 times per game and as a squad they commit 20.2 fouls per contest.

On the defensive end, the Thunder are able to force 16.0 turnovers per contest and they draw 19.5 fouls. They are surrendering 35.9% on shots from downtown and they rank 14th in the league in PPG allowed (113.6). The Thunder defensively are giving up a FG percentage of 44.8% (1,762 of 3,931) and they concede 45.0 boards per game as a basketball team. They are currently ranked 21st in the NBA in allowing assists to the opposition with 1,188 conceded for the year.

The last time they took the hardwood, the Pelicans walked away with a victory by a final of 153-124 against the Jazz. In regard to rebounding, New Orleans allowed Utah to collect 38 overall (6 on the offensive glass). They shot 33.3% from 3-point land via 12 of 36 and ended up shooting 26 out of 32 at the free throw line (81.3%). The Pelicans permitted the Jazz to make 43 of 92 tries from the floor which had them shooting 46.7% in this matchup. When the game finished, the Pelicans ended up shooting 60 for 104 from the floor which had them shooting 57.7%. When it comes to shooting from 3-point land, New Orleans made 23 of 46 attempts (50.0%). They were able to convert 10 of the free throw tries for a percentage of 66.7%. The Jazz earned 15 personal fouls in the matchup which took the Pelicans to the free throw line for a total of 15 tries. They gave up possession of the ball 9 times, while getting 5 steals for this game. The Pelicans were able to pull down 45 defensive boards and 12 offensive boards for a total of 57 for this game.

CJ McCollum was important for the Pelicans for the contest. He buried 11 out of 17 for the game for a rate of 64.7%, and had 5 rebounds. McCollum recorded 33 points in his 29 mins on the hardwood and had 2 dimes in this contest.

New Orleans has a record of 26-18 for the year. When it comes to offensive execution, the Pelicans are shooting 48.9% from the field, which is ranked 8th in the league. New Orleans has scored 5,170 pts for the campaign (117.5 per game) and they pull down 44.5 boards per contest. Their rate of assisting teammates is at 27.2 times per game (11th in the league) and they lose possession by turning the ball over 13.2 times per contest. The Pelicans are committing 19.6 personal fouls every game while shooting 76.5% from the charity stripe.

The Pelicans defensively are ranked 11th in the NBA in PPG allowed with 112.5. They are able to force 14.1 turnovers per game and allow teams to shoot 46.1% from the floor (6th in basketball). The New Orleans defense concedes 34.4% on 3-point shots (593 of 1,724) and their opposition knocks down 78.5% of their shots from the free throw line. They have allowed 26.9 dimes and 42.6 rebounds per contest, which has them ranked 18th and 10th in basketball.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Oklahoma City

Get $60 worth of FREE premium member picks. No Obligation. No Salesman. No Credit Card. Fast Sign up with Instant Access Click Here