Oklahoma City Thunder vs New Orleans Pelicans Prediction, 4/27/2024 Preview and Pick

Game: Oklahoma City Thunder vs New Orleans Pelicans

Date: Saturday, April 27, 2024

Location: Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, LA

TV: TNT

Odds/Point Spread: Oklahoma City (-1)

Smoothie King Center is where the New Orleans Pelicans will take on the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday in Game 3 of their series. The Thunder lead the series 2-0. New Orleans opens this matchup as 1-point dogs. The over/under is set at 209.

The Thunder earned the victory with a final of 124-92 in Game 2. With respect to personal fouls, the Thunder ended up with 19 and the Pelicans racked up 24 personal fouls. They also converted 7 out of their 26 attempts from beyond the perimeter. New Orleans walked away from this one shooting 90.5% at the charity stripe by making 19 of their 21 tries. Furthermore, New Orleans grabbed 35 rebounds (8 offensive, 27 defensive) and added 2 blocks. New Orleans distributed 16 dimes and had 4 steals for the contest. Regarding defense, Oklahoma City allowed 45.2% from the field on 33 out of 73 shooting. They also doled out 25 assists in this contest while forcing 17 turnovers and earning 5 steals. In the matter of grabbing rebounds, they collected 37 with 5 of them being offensive. At the charity stripe, the Thunder buried 18 of their 20 shots for a percentage of 90.0%. Oklahoma City wrapped up the contest having earned a 59.0% field goal percentage (46 of 78) and converted 14 of their 29 3-point attempts.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is one player who was a major contributor for this contest. Gilgeous-Alexander finished the game shooting 68.4% from the floor and recorded 5 dimes. He played for 35 minutes played and also pulled down 3 rebounds. He ended up finishing with 33 points on 13 of 19 shooting.

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Oklahoma City heads into this game with a win-loss mark of 57-25 for the year. They currently have an average of 120.1 pts per game (3rd in basketball) while going 49.9% from the floor. The Thunder are connecting on 38.9% from downtown (1,090 of 2,805) and 82.5% from the free throw line. As a team, Oklahoma City is pulling down 42.0 boards per game and has 2,223 dimes so far this year, which ranks 11th in basketball in terms of passing the rock. They lose possession by turning the ball over 12.7 times per game and as a basketball team are committing 18.8 fouls every game.

Defensively, the Thunder have forced 15.7 turnovers on a nightly basis while drawing 18.9 personal fouls. They are ranked 18th in the league in allowing assists with 2,207 conceded for the year. The Thunder defensively are giving up a FG percentage of 45.5% (3,328 of 7,322) and they concede 44.7 boards per contest as a basketball team. They relinquish 36.1% on shots from beyond the arc while they are 11th in basketball in PPG from their opponents (112.7).

In Game 2 the Pelicans were able to collect 27 defensive boards and 8 offensive boards for a total of 35 for the contest. They also gave up possession of the ball 17 times, while recording 4 steals in this contest. The Thunder had 19 personal fouls in the matchup which got the Pelicans to the free throw line for a total of 21 shots. They were able to make 19 of them for a rate of 90.5%. In reference to shots from beyond the perimeter, New Orleans buried 7 of 26 attempts (26.9%). When the final whistle blew, the Pelicans finished shooting 33 out of 73 from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 45.2%. The Pelicans permitted the Thunder to knock down 46 of their 78 tries from the field which gave them a percentage of 59.0% in the game. They finished shooting 48.3% from beyond the perimeter by going 14 of 29 and finished the contest at 18 of 20 from the charity stripe (90.0%). With respect to how they rebounded, New Orleans permitted Oklahoma City to collect 37 in total (5 on the offensive glass).

Jonas Valanciunas was important for the Pelicans in this matchup. Valanciunas had 19 points in his 23 minutes of playing time and had 2 assists for this game. He buried 8 out of 14 for the contest giving him a rate of 57.1%, and had 7 rebounds.

New Orleans has a record of 49-33 this year. The Pelicans have committed 18.4 fouls every game and they hit 77.1% from the free throw line. Their rate of earning assists is at 27.0 times per contest (13th in basketball) and they lose possession by turning the ball over 13.0 times per contest. New Orleans has earned 9,436 pts for the campaign (115.1 per game) and they pull down 44.0 rebounds per game. When it comes to executing on offense, the Pelicans are hitting on 48.6% from the floor, which is 9th in basketball.

The Pelicans on defense are ranked 8th in the NBA in PPG surrendered with 110.7. They are forcing their opponents into 14.2 TO's per game and have let teams shoot 46.4% from the field (7th in basketball). The New Orleans defense concedes 34.9% on 3-point attempts (1,109 of 3,176) and opponents are knocking down 78.3% of their shots from the charity stripe. They have surrendered 26.8 assists and 42.3 rebounds every game, which ranks them 17th and 8th in the league.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take New Orleans (+1)

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