Oklahoma City Thunder vs New Orleans Pelicans Prediction, 4/13/2025 Preview and Pick

Game: Oklahoma City Thunder vs New Orleans Pelicans

Date: Sunday, April 13, 2025

Location: Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, LA

TV: Gulf Coast Sports

The Oklahoma City Thunder (66-14) are hitting the road to Smoothie King Center on Sunday where they will attempt to beat the New Orleans Pelicans (21-59).

The Thunder faced off with the Suns and took home the win by a score of 125-112 in their last contest. Oklahoma City walked away from the game with a 52.3% FG percentage (45 of 86) and made 12 of 30 three-point shots. From the free throw line, the Thunder buried 23 of their 27 shots for a percentage of 85.2%. With regard to hauling in rebounds, they compiled 44 with 8 of them being offensive. They also dished out 24 assists in this contest while forcing 15 turnovers and earning 11 steals. When talking about defense, Oklahoma City let their opponent shoot 48.3% from the field on 42 out of 87 shooting. Phoenix totaled 31 assists and had 10 steals for this game. On top of that, Phoenix grabbed 38 rebounds (9 offensive, 29 defensive) and added 2 blocked shots. Phoenix shot 68.4% from the free throw line by knocking down 13 of 19 shots. They made 15 out of their 42 tries from 3-point range. When talking about fouls, the Thunder ended up walking away with 18 and the Suns recorded 17 fouls.

Jalen Williams is someone who was a major factor for this game. Williams finished the game shooting 56.5% from the field and also totaled 5 dimes. He played for 36 minutes played and also totaled 7 rebounds. He racked up 33 points on 13 of 23 shooting.

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Oklahoma City heads into this one with a win-loss mark of 66-14 on the campaign. They lose possession by turning the ball over 11.8 times per contest and as a group they commit 19.9 personal fouls per contest. As a unit, Oklahoma City is pulling down 44.6 boards per contest and has earned 2,145 assists so far this season, which ranks 12th in basketball in terms of passing. The Thunder are connecting on 37.6% on three-point shots (1,159 of 3,084) and 81.9% from the free throw line. They are averaging 120.3 points per outing (4th in basketball) while connecting on 48.1% from the field.

On the defensive end, the Thunder are able to force 17.1 turnovers every game and they draw 18.2 personal fouls. They give up 34.6% from beyond the arc and they are ranked 3rd in basketball in PPG allowed (107.7). The Thunder defense is allowing a shooting percentage of 43.8% (3,035 of 6,936) and they surrender 44.7 boards per game as a group. They rank 4th in basketball in giving up assists to their opponents with 1,973 conceded this year.

In their last game, the Pelicans took a loss by a final score of 136-111 when they faced the Bucks. Concerning team rebounding, New Orleans allowed Milwaukee to collect 43 in all (7 on the offensive glass). They shot 40.0% from behind the 3-point line by going 18 out of 45 and finished the contest at 20 of 30 from the charity stripe (66.7%). The Pelicans allowed the Bucks to bury 49 of 90 tries from the field which had them shooting 54.4% in this matchup. When this game wrapped up, the Pelicans shot 41 for 96 from the floor which gave them a percentage of 42.7%. Regarding three-point attempts, New Orleans made 15 out of their 47 attempts (31.9%). They were able to make 14 of the free throws for a clip of 73.7%. The Bucks committed 17 fouls in the matchup which took the Pelicans to the free throw line for 19 shots. They gave up possession of the ball 16 times, while getting 8 steals for the game. The Pelicans were able to collect 38 defensive rebounds and 15 offensive boards for a total of 53 in the game.

Lester Quinones ended up having an impact for the Pelicans for the matchup. Quinones accumulated 21 points in his 32 mins on the court and had 6 assists in this contest. He made 8 of 22 in the game giving him a rate of 36.4%, and totaled 5 rebounds.

New Orleans has a win-loss mark of 21-59 so far this year. As an offense, the Pelicans are hitting on 45.4% from the floor, which is 24th in basketball. New Orleans has scored 8,802 pts on the season (110.0 per game) and they snag 43.6 boards per game. They are earning an assist 25.9 times per contest (19th in the NBA) and they cough up possession 14.7 times per game. The Pelicans are committing 18.3 fouls per contest and they shoot 75.4% from the charity stripe.

The Pelicans on defense are ranked 26th in the league in PPG surrendered with 118.9. They are able to force 14.1 TO's every game and allow teams to shoot 48.3% from the field (29th in basketball). The New Orleans defense gives up 36.6% on shots from 3-point land (1,170 of 3,197) and opponents are knocking down 78.5% of their free throw shots. They have relinquished 28.7 dimes and 45.5 total boards per game, which is 27th and 27th in the league.

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Oklahoma City

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