Oklahoma City Thunder vs Brooklyn Nets Prediction & Betting Tips - NBA

Prediction published on 31/12/2023, 01:55  by Joseph King | Modified on 31/12/2023 at 11:00 in NBA Prediction

An inter-conference clash in the NBA on Sunday evening sees the Oklahoma City Thunder hosting the Brooklyn Nets. The Thunder are one of the biggest surprises of the 2023/24 NBA season with their 21-9 record placing them second in the Western Conference. The Thunder are coming off a massive morale-boosting result after defeating the defending champions 119-93 in Denver. It was arguably the team’s best defensive performance of the year as they held Jokic to 19 points and Jamal Murray to just nine points. This team isn’t a fluke either with plenty of underlying stats backing them up. OKC ranks third in adjusted net rating (+6.2) and fifth in adjusted defensive rating (112.3). The win over the Nuggets was the team’s third in a row and their eight win in the last 10 overall. At the Paycom Center, OKC has won 12 of their 17 appearances.

The Nets come to town sitting ninth in the Eastern Conference with a 15-17 record. They currently occupy a play-in spot but will be targeting closing the gap on city-rivals New York in eighth who they trail by two games. Brooklyn is coming off an ugly 110-104 loss to the lowly Washington Wizards, the team’s second straight loss. It hasn’t been a good run of form overall for Jacque Vaughn’s men in the last two weeks as they’ve lost seven of their last nine games. Defense has been a problem for the Nets over the last few games, notably against the Bucks just four days ago when they gave up 144 points. They’ll need a much better showing if they are to contain this in-form OKC Thunder squad.