The Oklahoma City Thunder and the New Orleans Pelicans square off to begin the opening round of the NBA Playoffs. The Thunder enter the matchup as favorites by 8.5 points for the game, which will be broadcast on TNT at 9:30 PM ET. The matchup’s point total is set at 216.
Keep reading to dig into the best bets you can place on Sunday’s game, based on our computer predictions.
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Spread: Pelicans (+8.5) to Cover
- The model favors the Thunder by 6.2 points, just 2.3 fewer than the 8.5-point spread set by DraftKings.
- New Orleans is 44-36-2 against the spread this year.
- The Pelicans have not covered the spread when an underdog by 8.5 points or more this year (in one opportunity).
- Oklahoma City’s ATS record is 46-35-1 this season.
- The Thunder have been favored by 8.5 points or more 24 times this season, and covered the spread in 14 of those matchups.
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Total: Over 216
- The DraftKings point total for this game is more than two possessions lower (13.1 points) than the model projection. Put your money on the over.
- Oklahoma City and its opponent have broken the 216-point mark 65 times this year.
- So far this year, 61 New Orleans’ games have featured over 216 points scored.
- A total of 43 out of the Thunder’s 82 games this season have gone over the point total.
- So far this season, 36 out of the Pelicans’ 82 games with an over/under have hit the over.
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Moneyline Winner: Thunder (-375)
- Prediction: Thunder 118, Pelicans 111
- Oklahoma City has been the favorite in 61 games this season and won 47 (77%) of those contests.
- New Orleans has been an underdog in 32 games this season and has come away with the win 18 times (56.2%) in those contests.
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Chet Holmgren Rebounds Prop: Under 8.5
- Chet Holmgren averages 16.5 points, 7.9 boards and 2.4 assists per contest, shooting 53.0% from the floor and 37.0% from downtown with 1.6 made treys per contest.
- He collects 7.9 rebounds per game, 0.6 fewer than his prop bet on Sunday.
- He has recorded more rebounds than his total in 37 of his 81 games with a prop set this season.
- The Pelicans collect 44.0 rebounds per game and concede 42.3 boards, ranking 12th and seventh, respectively, in the league.
See all available player props for Chet Holmgren and other Thunder players in this game and sign up to place your bets with DraftKings Sportsbook.
CJ McCollum Rebounds Prop: Over 4.5
- CJ McCollum is averaging 20.0 points, 4.3 rebounds and 4.6 assists per contest. He’s draining 45.9% of his shots from the floor and 42.9% from 3-point range (seventh in league), with 3.6 treys per game (third in league).
- He has pulled down 4.3 rebounds per game, 0.2 less than his prop bet for Sunday’s game (4.5).
- He has recorded more rebounds than his listed total in 33 of his 66 games with a prop this season.
- The Thunder are averaging only 42.0 rebounds per game (fourth-worst in NBA), and they are allowing 44.7 boards per contest (23rd-ranked).
Check out the prop bets available for CJ McCollum and other Pelicans players in this matchup and sign up to place your bets with DraftKings Sportsbook.
All stats in this article refer to the 2023-24 regular season.
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