Oklahoma City Thunder vs New Orleans Pelicans: Analysis and Prediction – Oklahoma City Thunder will host New Orleans Pelicans in the NBA.
Oklahoma City Thunder vs New Orleans Pelicans Odds
Oklahoma City Thunder Team News
In the first game of the first round of the Western Conference playoffs, the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the New Orleans Pelicans 94:92, in a meeting in which Shai Gilgeous-Alexander with 28 points and Jalen Williams with 19 points were the most effective.
It was clear that the Oklahoma City Thunder would not have an easy task against the New Orleans Pelicans. We are talking about two very talented, but not so experienced teams, if we take into account their participation in the playoffs. Even in that case, the advantage is on the side of the New Orleans Pelicans, who, despite having reached the playoffs via play-in, still have something to show for it. In an extremely tough game, Oklahoma City Thunder, thanks to a good enough defense by Luguentz Dort, prevented C.J. McCollum from shooting from an easy position, so that the visitors’ shooting guard missed for the win.
While the Oklahoma City Thunder should be more than happy after taking a 1-0 lead, it could very well have been different. Chet Holmgren doesn’t have the ability to guard Jonas Valanciunas, who grabbed 20 of his rebounds. In total, the New Orleans Pelicans had 52 rebounds, 18 of which were offensive rebounds, so it’s clear what Marc Daigneault’s team needs to improve to get to 2-0.
New Orleans Pelicans Team News
The New Orleans Pelicans lost the first game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, but they did not disappoint. The most notable were Trey Murphy with 21 points and C. J. McCollum with 20 points, although Jonas Valanciunas was also very good with 13 points and 20 rebounds.
The New Orleans Pelicans opened this series without Zion Williamson, which was an aggravating circumstance. In addition, they provided excellent resistance to the favored opponent, both because of the already mentioned dominance in the rebound, and because of the game of Trey Murphy, who took on greater responsibility in the absence of Zion Williamson and tormented the defense of Oklahoma City Thunder with five three-pointers. Overall, however, the impression is that better shooting percentages decided that the Oklahoma City Thunder still won. The New Orleans Pelicans shot just 38.5 percent from the field and 28.2 percent from three.
And with those numbers, they could win, which should be a positive sign for the New Orleans Pelicans, especially since they did it without one of the team’s two best players. In the next meeting, the recipe will be clear – to burden the frontcourt of the opponent, and at the same time maintain high shooting percentages.
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Oklahoma City Thunder vs New Orleans Pelicans H2H
Oklahoma leads 1-0 in the series with a 94-92 win in the first meeting.
Absences and Injuries
Oklahoma City Thunder vs New Orleans Pelicans Prediction
Tip-off Time: Thursday, 25.04.2024, 03:30 CET
Prediction: New Orleans Pelicans +8.5
Odds: 1.77
Sportsbook: 22Bet
*Odds are active at the time the article is published
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