Oklahoma City Thunder vs Washington Wizards Prediction, 1/8/2024 Preview and Pick

Game: Oklahoma City Thunder vs Washington Wizards

Date: Monday, January 8, 2024

Location: Capital One Arena in Washington, DC

TV: Monumental Sports Network

Odds/Point Spread: Oklahoma City (-12)

Capital One Arena is the site where the Washington Wizards (6-29) will try to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder (23-11) on Monday. Oklahoma City opens this matchup as 12-point favorites. The over/under is set at 244.5.

The Thunder took the court against the Nets and ended up losing by a score of 124-115 in their last contest. In regard to personal fouls, the Thunder walked away with 26 while the Nets totaled 24 personal fouls. They buried 14 of their 39 attempts from long range. Brooklyn walked away from this one shooting 84.8% at the free throw line by knocking down 28 of 33 attempts. In addition, Brooklyn grabbed 51 boards (20 offensive, 31 defensive) and got 5 rejections. Brooklyn totaled 25 dimes and had 9 steals for the game. With respect to defense, Oklahoma City allowed 45.1% from the floor on 41 of 91 shooting. They also dished out 29 dimes in the game in addition to forcing the other team into 15 turnovers and getting 8 steals. Concerning hauling in rebounds, they collected a total of 36 with 7 of them being offensive. When they shot from the free throw line, the Thunder knocked down 16 of their 24 attempts for a rate of 66.7%. Oklahoma City ended having earned a 53.6% field goal percentage (45 of 84) and buried 9 out of their 31 shots from downtown.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is a guy who played a role in this matchup. Gilgeous-Alexander ended up shooting 57.9% from the field and recorded 6 dimes. He played 36 mins and also collected 9 boards. He accounted for 34 points on 11 out of 19 shooting.

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Oklahoma City enters this one with a mark of 23-11 this year. They are averaging 121.8 pts per contest (4th in the league) while going 50.2% from the field. The Thunder are connecting on 39.4% on shots beyond the perimeter (448 of 1,137) and 84.1% from the charity stripe. As a team, Oklahoma City is collecting 40.7 boards per contest and has accounted for 904 assists so far this season, which has them ranked 18th in the league in terms of passing. They lose possession by turning the ball over 12.6 times per game and as a team they commit 20.4 personal fouls on a nightly basis.

Defensively, the Thunder are forcing 16.2 turnovers on a nightly basis while drawing 19.8 fouls. They are surrendering 35.8% from 3-point land and they rank 15th in the NBA in opponents PPG (114.2). The Thunder defensively are giving up an opponent shooting percentage of 44.6% (1,365 of 3,061) and they concede 45.8 rebounds per game as a group. They rank 14th in the league in giving up assists to their opponents with 922 relinquished on the season.

When they last stepped on the court, the Wizards took a loss by a score of 121-105 against the Knicks. In relation to rebounds, Washington permitted New York to collect 45 in total (11 on the offensive side). They finished 38.9% from downtown by shooting 14 of 36 and walked away from this one shooting 21 out of 24 at the charity stripe (87.5%). The Wizards allowed the Knicks to convert 43 of their 87 tries from the floor which left them with a shooting percentage of 49.4% in this contest. When the final whistle blew, the Wizards shot 40 for 85 from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 47.1%. In reference to 3-pointers, Washington converted 13 of 37 tries (35.1%). They were able to knock down 12 of the free throw tries for a rate of 60.0%. The Knicks committed 16 personal fouls in the matchup which got the Wizards to the charity stripe for a total of 20 shots. They gave up possession of the ball 20 times, while getting 5 steals for the contest. The Wizards were able to collect 33 defensive boards and 12 offensive boards totaling 45 for this game.

Kyle Kuzma ended up having an impact for the Wizards for this contest. Kuzma scored 27 points in his 32 mins of playing time and had 2 dimes in the game. He converted 10 out of 21 for the contest for a field goal percentage of 47.6%, and had 2 rebounds.

Washington has a record of 6-29 this year. The Wizards commit 19.5 personal fouls every game and they shoot 76.2% from the free throw line. They are earning an assist 27.4 times per contest (8th in the league) and they are losing possession via turnover 13.8 times per game. Washington has accounted for 4,030 pts for the season (115.1 per game) and they pull in 39.3 rebounds per game. On the offensive side of the ball, the Wizards are hitting on 47.9% from the floor, which ranks them 11th in the league.

The Wizards on defense are ranked 30th in the league in points per game surrendered with 126.1. They are able to force 14.7 turnovers per game and have allowed teams to shoot 50.2% from the field (29th in basketball). The Washington defense allows 38.2% on 3-point shots (469 of 1,229) and opponents are making 76.5% of their free throw attempts. They concede 30.4 assists and 49.9 rebounds per game, which is ranked 30th and 30th in the league.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Washington (+12)

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