Oklahoma City Thunder vs New Orleans Pelicans Prediction, 12/7/2024 Preview and Pick

Game: Oklahoma City Thunder vs New Orleans Pelicans

Date: Saturday, December 7, 2024

Location: Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, LA

TV: Gulf Coast Sports

Smoothie King Center is the site where the New Orleans Pelicans (4-18) will take on the Oklahoma City Thunder (16-5) on Saturday.

The Thunder faced off with the Jazz and took home the win by a score of 133-106 in their last game. Oklahoma City ended having earned a 52.0% field goal percentage (53 out of 102) and knocked down 17 of their 47 three-point shots. From the free throw line, the Thunder knocked down 10 of 11 attempts for a rate of 90.9%. When talking about grabbing boards, they compiled 34 with 15 of them being on the offensive end. They also distributed 32 assists in this matchup as well as creating 29 turnovers and having 18 steals. In the matter of defense, Oklahoma City allowed their opponent to shoot 54.3% from the field on 38 out of 70 shooting. Utah distributed 21 assists and had 3 steals in the game. In addition, Utah pulled down 36 boards (11 offensive, 25 defensive) and earned 3 rejections. Utah ended up shooting 77.3% when shooting free throws by converting 17 of their 22 attempts. They also knocked down 13 of their 35 attempts from downtown. Concerning personal fouls, the Thunder ended up finishing with 23 and the Jazz racked up 14 personal fouls.

Jalen Williams is a player who came through for the contest. He finished with 28 points on 12 out of 18 shooting. He saw the court for 28 mins played and also pulled down 2 boards. Williams finished the game at 66.7% from the floor and distributed 5 dimes.

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Oklahoma City will enter this matchup with a record of 16-5 for the season. They turn it over 11.6 times per game and as a unit they are committing 21.2 fouls every game. As a team, Oklahoma City is pulling in 42.8 boards per game and has accounted for 540 assists so far this year, which has them ranked 19th in the league in terms of passing. The Thunder are hitting 34.5% on three-point attempts (287 of 831) and 80.4% from the free throw line. They average 114.9 points per contest (10th in the NBA) while going 46.2% from the floor.

When they are on defense, the Thunder have forced 19.2 turnovers per contest while drawing 18.3 personal fouls. They are ranked 3rd in the NBA in giving up assists with 508 conceded for the year. The Thunder defense is giving up an opponent FG percentage of 42.6% (761 of 1,785) and they concede 48.6 boards per contest as a unit. They surrender 33.9% from beyond the arc and they are ranked 2nd in basketball in PPG allowed (104.1).

The last time they took the court, the Pelicans walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 124-112 when they played the Hawks. In relation to how they attacked the glass, New Orleans allowed Atlanta to pull down 51 in total (11 on the offensive side). They finished the game shooting 26.3% from behind the 3-point line by shooting 10 of 38 and ended up going 16 of 20 at the charity stripe (80.0%). The Pelicans allowed the Hawks to convert 49 out of their 96 tries from the field which had them shooting 51.0% for the contest. When the game finished, the Pelicans went 44 for 100 from the field which had them shooting 44.0%. Concerning shots from distance, New Orleans made 13 out of 42 attempts (31.0%). They were able to knock down 11 of the free throw tries for a rate of 64.7%. The Hawks committed 15 fouls in this game which got the Pelicans to the free throw line for a total of 17 attempts. They coughed up the ball 16 times, while getting 15 steals in the matchup. The Pelicans were able to snag 26 defensive boards and 15 offensive rebounds for a total of 41 for the game.

CJ McCollum ended up having an impact for the Pelicans for the game. He converted 12 of 26 in this matchup for a field goal percentage of 46.2%, and tallied 6 rebounds. McCollum scored 29 points in his 35 mins on the court and had 2 dimes for the contest.

New Orleans has a win-loss mark of 4-18 this year. The Pelicans are committing 17.3 fouls per game and they shoot 75.3% from the charity stripe. They are dishing out assists 23.7 times per game (26th in the league) and they turn it over 15.3 times per game. New Orleans has totaled 2,273 pts on the season (103.3 per contest) and they collect 43.4 boards per game. On the offensive side of the court, the Pelicans are hitting on 43.3% from the field, which is 29th in the league.

The Pelicans on the defensive end are ranked 23rd in the league in points per game surrendered with 116.0. They are able to force 14.4 TO's per game and allow teams to shoot 48.5% from the field (28th in the league). The New Orleans defense gives up 37.3% on shots from 3-point land (317 of 851) and their opponents are making 77.2% of their shots from the charity stripe. They give up 28.6 assists and 45.2 total boards per game, ranking them 27th and 24th in the NBA.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take New Orleans

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