Oklahoma City Thunder vs Orlando Magic Prediction, 12/19/2024 Preview and Pick

Game: Oklahoma City Thunder vs Orlando Magic

Date: Thursday, December 19, 2024

Location: Kia Center in Orlando, FL

TV: FanDuel Sports Network

The Oklahoma City Thunder (20-5) are on their way to Kia Center on Thursday where they will compete against the Orlando Magic (17-11).

The Thunder faced the Rockets and notched a win by a score of 111-96 in their last contest. In the matter of personal fouls, the Thunder left the arena with 24 while the Rockets totaled 25 personal fouls. They also buried 11 of 46 attempts from three-point range. Houston finished the game shooting 60.0% from the charity stripe by making 15 of their 25 tries. In addition, Houston collected 49 rebounds (19 offensive, 30 defensive) and earned 4 blocked shots. Houston recorded 17 dimes and had 7 steals for the contest. Pertaining to defense, Oklahoma City allowed the other team to shoot 36.5% from the field on 35 out of 96 shooting. They also dished out 19 assists for the contest in addition to creating 16 turnovers and having 12 steals. When talking about rebounding, they collected a total of 43 with 4 of them being of the offensive sort. From the free throw line, the Thunder converted 28 of 32 tries for a rate of 87.5%. Oklahoma City ended having earned a 45.0% FG percentage (36 of 80) and made 11 out of their 30 3-point shots.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is a player who was a major factor in this matchup. He left the arena with 32 points on 8 out of 21 shooting. He was on the hardwood for 38 mins and pulled down 8 boards. Gilgeous-Alexander finished the game at 38.1% from the field and also distributed 6 assists.

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Oklahoma City enters this game with a mark of 20-5 for the season. They have an average of 115.6 points per game (10th in the NBA) while shooting 46.5% from the field. The Thunder are hitting 35.1% on shots from downtown (347 of 990) and 81.0% from the charity stripe. As a unit, Oklahoma City is snagging 43.7 boards per game and has totaled 643 assists on the season, which is 20th in the NBA in terms of passing the rock. They are turning it over 11.8 times per game and as a team they are committing 21.1 personal fouls on a nightly basis.

On the defensive end, the Thunder are able to force 19.1 turnovers on a nightly basis and they draw 18.3 personal fouls. They are relinquishing 33.1% on 3-point shots and they are 1st in the league in points per game allowed (103.5). The Thunder defensively are giving up a field goal percentage of 42.4% (904 of 2,130) and they surrender 48.0 boards per game as a basketball team. They are ranked 3rd in the league in giving up assists with 599 relinquished on the campaign.

The last time they took the court, the Magic took a defeat with a final score of 100-91 against the Knicks. The Magic collected 29 defensive boards and 10 offensive boards for a total of 39 for this contest. They also turned the ball over 15 times, while getting 8 steals in the matchup. The Knicks committed 16 fouls in this matchup which got the Magic to the free throw line for a total of 13 shots. They were able to bury 10 of the free throws for a percentage of 76.9%. Regarding three-point attempts, Orlando converted 9 of their 30 tries (30.0%). When the game finished, the Magic ended up going 36 for 86 from the field which had them shooting 41.9%. The Magic permitted the Knicks to convert 33 out of 71 attempts from the field which had them sitting at 46.5% in this contest. They finished 41.7% from behind the 3-point line by shooting 10 out of 24 and finished the contest at 24 of 30 from the free throw line (80.0%). With respect to how they cleaned up the glass, Orlando allowed New York to get 45 in all (7 on the offensive glass).

Moritz Wagner was important for the Magic in this contest. He knocked down 10 out of 15 for the game for a field goal percentage of 66.7%, and had 6 rebounds. Wagner scored 32 points in his 26 mins on the court and had 1 assist in the game.

Orlando has a win-loss mark of 17-11 this season. As an offense, the Magic are connecting on 45.1% from the floor, which ranks them 24th in basketball. Orlando has accumulated 2,998 points on the year (107.1 per game) and they grab 42.1 rebounds per game. Their rate of earning assists is at 23.9 times per game (25th in basketball) and they are losing possession via turnover 15.0 times per contest. The Magic are committing 20.3 personal fouls per game and they go 78.4% from the free throw line.

The Magic on the defensive end are ranked 2nd in basketball in points given up per game with 103.5. They are forcing their opponents into 17.1 TO's every game and allow teams to shoot 46.2% from the field (11th in the NBA). The Orlando defense surrenders 36.7% from downtown (327 of 892) and their opponents are connecting on 75.8% of their free throw shots. They have given up 23.0 assists and 40.8 boards every game, which ranks them 2nd and 1st in basketball.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Orlando

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