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

Prediction published on 20/04/2024, 18:01  by Joseph King | Modified on 21/04/2024 at 13:30 in NBA Prediction

The first seed OKC Thunder host the eighth seed New Orleans Pelicans for the first game of the Western Conference playoffs first round. It’s been a fantastic season for the Thunder who are well ahead of schedule with their talented young roster. After finishing two games below .500 last season in 10th-place, the expectation would have been to battle for a play-in spot or possibly the sixth seed. However, Oklahoma City would instead put together a 57-25 record and beat out the Nuggets on a tiebreaker to secure first-place in the West. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is a legitimate MVP candidate and players like Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams have brought much more to the table than was initially expected. The Thunder come into this series off the back of a 135-86 blowout victory over the Mavericks to end the regular season. The win capped off a five-game winning streak in a stretch where the offense averaged a red-hot 124.0 points per game.

The Pelicans had to go through the gauntlet that is the play-in tournament to secure their spot in the postseason. After losing to the Lakers 110-106 in the seventh vs eighth game, the Pelicans would go on to defeat the Kings 105-98 to secure the eighth seed. New Orleans had to do this without their superstar Zion Williamson who was ruled out for the next few weeks after his 40-point performance against the Lakers in a losing effort. The visitors finished the regular season with a 49-33 record, a marked improvement over the team that finished two games above .500 last year. New Orleans was also the best road team in the NBA during the regular season and finished with a league high 28-14 record on their travels. They’ll hope that form carries over into the playoffs where they will attempt to steal home court advantage in these first two games.