New Orleans Pelicans vs OKC Thunder Predictions, Player Props & Picks

Mar 26, 2024; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Cason Wallace (22) makes a three point basket against New Orleans Pelicans forward Herbert Jones (5) during the first half at Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Hinton-USA TODAY SportsThe top-seeded OKC Thunder open the postseason against the #8 New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday nightWith Zion Williamson sidelined for the Pelicans, the Thunder are big home favorites in Game 1See the Pelicans vs Thunder predictions, player props, and injury reports on April 21

It took the full 82 games to decide, but the Oklahoma City Thunder (57-25, 33-8 home, 46-35-1 ATS) emerged from the regular season as the top team in the Western Conference, beating Denver on a head-to-head tiebreaker. Their reward is a first-round best-of-seven series with the New Orleans Pelicans (49-33, 28-14 away, 44-39-1 ATS), staring with Game 1 on Sunday night at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City at 8:30 pm CT/9:30 pm ET.

The Pelicans will be missing leading scorer Zion Williamson (hamstring), who was injured in the 7-vs-8 Play-In Game against the Lakers on Tuesday. The Thunder, who would have been sizable favorites regardless, are laying 8.5 against shorthanded New Orleans.

New Orleans Pelicans vs OKC Thunder Odds

On the moneyline, OKC is a -340 favorite to take a 1-0 series lead with New Orleans coming back at +270. The game total is sitting at 216.5.

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Odds as of April 21 at ESPN Bet. Claim the ESPN Bet bonus code to wager on NOLA vs OKC Game 1 on Sunday night. 

The winner of the Pelicans/Thunder series will advance in the NBA playoff bracket to face the winner of the #4 LA Clippers and #5 Dallas Mavericks.

Pelicans Survive Play-In Tournament

New Orleans, which finished seventh in the West in the regular season, needed both its chances to make it into the first round. The Pelicans fell 110-106 at home to the Lakers in the 7-vs-8 game on Tuesday, but made good on their second chance against the Kings on Friday, earning a 105-98 victory.

New Orleans lost Zion Williamson (22.9 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 5.0 APG) to a hamstring injury in the final minutes of the Lakers game. Williamson, the Pels’ leading scorer and second-leading rebounder, is expected to miss at least two weeks.

No other Pelicans players are listed on the team’s injury report prior to Game 1 against OKC.

Brandon Ingram had a team-high 24 points in the win over Sacramento while center Jonas Valanciunas added 19 points and a team-high 12 rebounds. The big night from Ingram was a welcome sight; in his first two games back from a three-week hiatus due to a knee injury, Ingram scored just 24 points combined.

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Thunder Enter Playoffs on Five-Game Win Streak

No team in the West enters the postseason hotter than the OKC Thunder, who used a five-game win streak to retake the #1 seed in the conference.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (30.1 PPG, 6.2 APG, 5.5 RPG) was neck-and-neck with Nikola Jokic in the NBA MVP odds throughout January and February before the latter pulled way ahead in the final six weeks of the season.

The Thunder took two of three from the Pelicans in the regular season, including the two most-recent games. New Orleans won the first matchup of the season (110-106) in OKC on Nov. 1 before the Thunder won a pair of games in NOLA on Jan. 26 (107-83) and March 26 (119-112).

OKC finished second in the NBA in Net Rating at +7.3, trailing only Boston. The Pelicans weren’t far behind, though, ranking sixth at +4.6, thanks largely to a 111.9 D-Rating. OKC was third on offense and fourth on defense.

The only Thunder player on the team’s injury report ahead of Game 1 is G-Leaguer Olivier Saar, who averaged 2.3 PPG in 15 games for OKC during the regular season.

NOLA vs OKC Player Props

NBA player props as of April 21 at DraftKings. 

SGA has the highest point total at 28.5 which Ingram and McCollum are both at 20.5 for the Pelicans. Holmgren and Valanciunas both have rebound totals of 8.5.

Pelicans vs Thunder Predictions

New Orleans has, counter-intuitively, been better on the road this season than at home, and the Pelicans won their only game in Oklahoma City during the regular season. But that was a lifetime ago in basketball terms (November 1) and the Thunder wound up 33-8 on their home court, tied for the best mark in the West and second-best in the league.

Expect a big statement in the first half from the young and hungry Thunder, who are playing their first postseason game since 2020.

NOLA vs OKC picks: Thunder first half -4.5 (-110)

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