The New Orleans Pelicans (29-28, 9-18 Away) will try to slow down one of the NBA’s top scoring teams when they travel to face the Oklahoma City Thunder (27-28, 16-11 Home) on Monday.
New Orleans lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers 118-107 at Smoothie King Center on Friday. Brandon Ingram had a standout performance in the loss with 25 points and eight assists. The Pelicans are the eighth seed in the Western Conference.
Oklahoma City won on Friday at Moda Center at the Rose Quarter, beating the Portland Trail Blazers 138-129. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 44 points and seven assists, carrying the team. The Thunder are the 11th seed in the Western Conference.
The teams are meeting for the final time this season. After winning both of the prior season games against Oklahoma City, the last of which was a 128-125 overtime victory at Paycom Center in December 2022, New Orleans will be seeking a season sweep. Gilgeous-Alexander topped all players in scoring with 44 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists in the loss.
Trey Murphy III had 23 points for the Pelicans. The Pels have been led this season by CJ McCollum, who is averaging 21.1 points per game. McCollum also has dished 5.8 assists per game. Meanwhile, Jonas Valanciunas is grabbing 9.8 rebounds.
Gilgeous-Alexander has supplied much of the Thunder’s offense, averaging 31.0 points per game. He has the fifth-best scoring average in the NBA.
Josh Giddey is averaging 7.9 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game.The Thunder rank as one of the highest-scoring offenses in the NBA, third-best with 117.9 points per game.
The teams have split their last 10 games at Paycom Center (5-5). New Orleans is looking to avoid a seventh successive defeat on the road this season.In the last 10 games, New Orleans is 3-7 with an average margin of -2.4 (112.2-114.6). Oklahoma City has split the last 10 (5-5), scoring 122.2 points per game on average while holding opponents to 121.5 (+0.7 margin).
PELICANS HOT/COLD
(Last Five | Season Average | Differential)
Points + Rebounds + Assists:
Trey Murphy III: 23.8 | 18.1 | +5.7
Points per game:
Brandon Ingram: 29.0 | 21.8 | +7.2
Rebounds per game:
Larry Nance Jr.: 8.4 | 6.0 | +2.4
Assists per game:
Brandon Ingram: 6.8 | 5.2 | +1.5
THUNDER HOT/COLD
(Last Five | Season Average | Differential)
Points per game:
Luguentz Dort: 18.0 | 14.1 | +3.9
Rebounds per game:
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: 3.4 | 4.6 | -1.2
Assists per game:
Josh Giddey: 7.8 | 5.9 | +1.9
SportsTips’ NBA Pick:
OKC Thunder (-145)
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*Odds correct at time of publication, courtesy of BetMGM.
