The New Orleans Pelicans have not been a good road team in the Western Conference this season and they are sizable NBA lines underdogs without superstar Anthony Davis on Thursday night as they visit the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Pelicans vs Thunder NBA Week 15 Lines & Prediction
We’ve got you covered with tonight’s highlights 🎬#PelicansGameday | #doitBIG pic.twitter.com/P27TCsFpix
— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) 24 de enero de 2019
- When: Thursday, 8 PM ET
- Where: Chesapeake Energy Arena
- TV: NBA TV
- Live Stream: NBA League Pass
- Radio: TuneIn
- NBA Week 15 Betting Lines: Oklahoma City Thunder -11.5 (Total 237)
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Season Series
Tied 1-1, each winning at home. In the two games, Anthony Davis has averaged 32.0 points, 13.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.0 steals, and 1.0 blocks. Julius Randle has averaged 24.0 points on .731 shooting from the floor, including .500 from deep, 10.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 1.5 blocks. Jrue Holiday has averaged 21.0 points, 12.0 assists, 4.5 rebounds, and 1.0 steals. For OKC, Paul George has averaged 24.0 points while shooting .412 from three-point range, 8.5 rebounds, 6.5 assists, and 3.0 steals. Dennis Schroder has averaged 23.0 points on .529 shooting from the floor. Russell Westbrook has averaged 18.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 8.0 assists, 2.5 steals, and 1.0 blocks.
Since the team relocated from Seattle to Oklahoma City, New Orleans is now 14-20 against the Thunder. Pels Coach Alvin Gentry is 12-28 (.300) all-time against the Thunder, and Thunder Coach Billy Donovan is 8-4 (.667) all-time against New Orleans.
Why Bet on New Orleans?
Second of a back-to-back for the Pels, who hosted Detroit on Monday.
The Pels remain without superstar Anthony Davis. Originally, he was expected to miss 1-2 weeks with a fractured finger but now could miss a month. Davis will see a hand specialist and there are fears that he suffered a solar plate avulsion fracture in his left index finger. The Pelicans cannot afford to have Davis out for that amount of time. The team has not met expectations this season, and are struggling to stay in playoff contention as we near the All-Star break.
Davis joined another small fraternity after he stuffed the stat sheet Jan. 9 vs. the Cavs, becoming one of just nine players in NBA history to record at least 38 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists and four blocks in a game, joining Joel Embiid (11/15/17), LeBron James (2/18/10), Tim Duncan (1/14/03), Shaquille O’Neal (3/23/01), David Robinson (3/12/94), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1/29/20, 12/18/79, 1/7/75), Artis Gilmore (3/18/77) and Alvan Adams (2/22/77).
Jahlil Okafor will continue to play more with Davis out. However, Okafor has proven to be anything but reliable up to this point in his career. To begin the season, Okafor appeared in just 13 of the Pelicans’ first 31 games, averaging just 2.8 points and 1.5 rebounds in 5.4 minutes and a plus/minus of -2.1. Over his last 15 games, Okafor has averaged 6.8 points and 4.5 rebounds in 13.7 minutes per game, with a plus/minus of +3.5. Better but not great.
New Orleans is 6-1 this season in games decided by 20-plus points and was 5-3 over the course of the entire 2017-18 season in the same category. Their 35-point win at Cleveland on Jan. 5 was the fifth largest in franchise history and the second largest road victory in franchise history. Jrue Holiday is one of just three players in the NBA averaging at least 20.5 points and 8.0 assists, with the other two being Houston’s James Harden and Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook.
Why Bet on Oklahoma City?
OKC won its third straight on Tuesday, 123-114 over Portland. Oklahoma City led almost all the way — trailing for less than 30 seconds. After a stretch of losing five of six games, during which they gave up 154, 142 and 138 points in defeats, the Thunder have moved back into third place in the fluid Western Conference standings.
Paul George hit 10-of-21 shots and three 3-pointers for 36 points, eight rebounds, four assists, five steals and a block in 38 minutes vs. the Blazers. He’s scored at least 31 in three straight games and is averaging 6.6 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 3.4 steals and 4.2 3-pointers over his last five games.
Russell Westbrook hit 9-of-20 shots, a 3-pointer and 10-of-12 free throws for 29 points, 10 rebounds, 14 assists, a steal, and five turnovers in 37 minutes. Westbrook came into this game averaging 21.6 points, 10.6 rebounds, and 10.5 assists, so he is easily on pace to average another triple-double this season.
Sharp-shooting reserve Alex Abrines was active for a second straight game but did not play. He missed the previous 13 games due first to illness, then personal reasons. The Thunder’s bench produced only 19 points.
As a team that creates the most second chances for themselves, OKC ranks first in the league in offensive rebounding (12.5) and ranks second in second-chance points (15.2), giving themselves 5.2 more shots per game than opponents, good for best in the NBA. The Thunder also rank first in preventing opponent shots in transition (18.3 percent) and taking the second-most shots in transition as a team (27.5 percent). Oklahoma City leads the league for both the most steals per contest (10.26) and the most turnovers forced per game (17.9).
Pelicans vs Thunder NBA Week 15 Betting Trends
- Pelicans are 1-4-1 ATS in their last 6 road games vs. a team with a home winning % of greater than .600
- Over is 5-0 in Thunder last 5 vs. Western Conference
- Oklahoma City is 4-2 ATS in its last 6 games
- Oklahoma City is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games
- The total has gone OVER in 7 of Oklahoma City’s last 8 games
- New Orleans is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games
- The total has gone UNDER in 4 of New Orleans’s last 6 games
Expert NBA Betting Prediction for Pelicans vs Thunder
Tired Pelicans without Davis no match.
