Oklahoma City Thunder (40-42) vs. New Orleans Pelicans (42-40)
April 12, 2023 9:30 pm EDT
The Line: New Orleans Pelicans -5.5; Over/Under: +231
(Get latest betting odds)
The Oklahoma City Thunder pay a visit to the New Orleans Pelicans at the Smoothie King Center to battle it out in a Play-In game on Wednesday night.
The Oklahoma City Thunder split their last 12 games of the regular season and they will be aiming for a third straight victory after taking down the Grizzlies in a 115-100 home win on Sunday. Jimmy Butler led the team with 25 points on 10 of 21 shooting, Tre Mann racked up a triple-double of 24 points with 12 rebounds and 12 assists while Ousmane Dieng and Olivier Sarr each scored 22 points. As a team, the Thunder shot 50 percent from the field and 12 of 36 from the 3-point line as they got off to a slow start and trailed for most of the first half, before they took control of the contest with 38 points in the third quarter to build a double-digit lead and win comfortably in the end.
Meanwhile, the New Orleans Pelicans are coming into this game with plenty of momentum as they’ve won nine of their last 12 games of the regular season, but they will be eager to bounce back after coming up short to the Timberwolves in a 113-108 road loss on Sunday. Brandon Ingram led the team with 42 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists, CJ McCollum added 23 points while Trey Murphy chipped in with 20 points on six of 10 shooting. As a team, the Pelicans shot 44 percent from the field and just three of 21 from the 3-point line as they got off to a flyer and led by 14 points early, but they never put the Timberwolves away and it cost them in the end as they leaked 66 points in the second half to finish short in the end.
Looking at the betting trends, the Thunder are 1-5 ATS in their last six road games, 17-6-3 ATS in their last 26 games following a win of more than 10 points and 2-8 ATS in their last 10 games overall. The Pelicans are 4-1-1 ATS in their last six home games, 4-0 ATS in their last four games against a team with a losing record and 8-3-1 ATS in their last 12 games overall.
Head to head, the Thunder are 10-4 ATS in the last 14 meetings overall and the Thunder are 6-0 ATS in the last six meetings in New Orleans.
The Thunder will again be without Aleksej Pokusevski, while the Pelicans are still missing Jose Alvarado and they are keeping an eye on Larry Nance Jr who is questionable due to left ankle soreness. The Thunder really cooled off towards the end of the regular season and they lost the season series to the Pelicans by 3-1, so I will be sticking with the Pelicans to get the win and cover at home in this one.
