New Orleans Pelicans vs Oklahoma City Thunder Prediction & Betting Tips - NBA

Prediction published on 26/04/2024, 19:15  by Joseph King | Modified on 27/04/2024 at 07:30 in NBA Prediction

Down 2-0 in the series, the New Orleans Pelicans return home to host the OKC Thunder for game three of the Western Conference playoffs first round. The Thunder took care of business in games one and two, protecting home court and securing themselves a two game lead in this best-of-seven series. It will now be up to New Orleans to do the same as they face a must-win spot on Saturday afternoon. Going down 3-0 in the NBA Playoffs is essentially a death sentence as no team has ever been able to successfully complete the comeback in 152 times of asking.

The Pelicans had a rough time of it in their first two games at the Paycom Center. They could have stolen game one, which would have completely changed the complexion of the series, but fell apart late on to succumb to a 94-92 loss. They would then be blown off the court by the Thunder in game two in a 124-92 defeat. New Orleans shot just 27% from three-point range while they allowed their opponents to shoot 59% from the field overall and 44% from deep in their latest contest. The Pels will  have to cut down on the turnovers if they are to pull this series back to 2-1 after committing 31 total over the first two games.

The Thunder finished the regular season in red-hot form and they’ve carried that over into the first round of the postseason. With their wins in games one and two, OKC is now riding a streak of seven consecutive wins. The visitors can deal a devastating blow to their opponents’ morale should they come out strong early on. They’ll be buoyed by their excellent offense which not only ranks third in the NBA in terms of points scored per game, but also ranks fourth in average road points per game. New Orleans will have to ramp up the scoring to compete with this potent Thunder team, which could lead to a high-scoring game three.