Charlotte Hornets vs Oklahoma City Thunder NBA Picks, Odds, Predictions 12/26/20

The Oklahoma City Thunder and Charlotte Hornets meet Saturday in NBA action at the Spectrum Center.

The Oklahoma City Thunder The Oklahoma City Thunder are coming off a seven-game series loss against the Houston Rockets. The Thunder have a new head coach in Mark Daigneault, and the 35-year-old should be able to relate to a young roster. With no Chris Paul around, it’s going to be fun to see if Shai Gilgeous-Alexander can take another step and lead a team. OKC has 15 players under the age of 25 and the lack of experience is intriguing during this weird season with no or limited fans. The additions of George Hill and Al Horford does provide some leadership in the locker room and does strengthen the depth of the roster. Still, CP3 was key to OKCs success last season and he will certainly be missed on and off the court. 

The Charlotte Hornets need a win after losing their opener to the Cavaliers. The Charlotte Hornets are averaging 114 points on 50 percent shooting and allowing 121 points on 52.9 percent shooting. Terry Rozier is averaging 42 points and two assists while Gordon Hayward is averaging 28 points and four rebounds. Bismack Biyombo is the third double-digit scorer and Devonte’ Graham is dishing 10 assists. The Charlotte Hornets are shooting 36.4 percent from beyond the arc and 53.3 percent from the free thitem line. The Charlotte Hornets are allowing 46.7 percent shooting from deep and are grabbing 32 rebounds per game.

The Thunder are 1-6 ATS in their last 7 road games and 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games overall. The Hornets are 5-0 ATS in their last 5 home games and 7-1-1 ATS in their last 9 games overall. The under is 4-1 in Thunder last 5 road games. The over is 4-1 in Hornets last 5 overall. The Thunder are 5-1 ATS in the last 6 meetings in Charlotte and 16-6-1 ATS in the last 23 meetings.

The Charlotte Hornets are an improved team from last season, but they’re also a team that couldn’t stop the mighty Cavaliers from getting buckets and lost their opener in embarrassing fashion. The Oklahoma City Thunder will make their season debut here and will have to adjust to CP3 not being around, but it’s not crazy to think OKC is still a better team than the Hornets on paper at least. This line is a bit confusing. I’ll take the free bucket with the Thunder.