The Oklahoma City Thunder (27-28) will return home from their three-game road trip when they face the New Orleans Pelicans (29-28) on Monday night. Oklahoma City won the final two games of its road trip, beating Portland by nine points on Friday. New Orleans had its three-game winning streak snapped in a loss to Cleveland, and it will try to avoid falling back to the .500 mark in this game.
Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. ET from the Paycom Center. Oklahoma City is favored by 2.5 points in the latest Thunder vs. Pelicans odds from Caesars Sportsbook, while the over/under is set at 235.5. Before entering any Pelicans vs. Thunder picks, you'll want to see the NBA predictions from the model at SportsLine.
The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every NBA game 10,000 times and has returned well over $10,000 in profit for $100 players on its top-rated NBA picks over the past four-plus seasons. The model enters Week 18 of the 2022-23 NBA season on a stunning 55-29 roll on all top-rated NBA picks this season, returning nearly $2,200. Anyone following it has seen huge returns.
Now, the model has set its sights on Thunder vs. Pelicans. You can head to SportsLine to see its picks. Here are several NBA betting lines for Pelicans vs. Thunder:
- Thunder vs. Pelicans spread: Thunder -2.5
- Thunder vs. Pelicans over/under: 235.5 points
- Thunder vs. Pelicans money line: Oklahoma City -140, New Orleans +118
- Thunder vs. Pelicans picks: See picks here
Why the Thunder can cover
Oklahoma City has been consistently winning games since the beginning of January, and its success continued during its recent three-game road trip. The Thunder won the final two games of that trip, beating the Lakers and Trail Blazers. They spoiled LeBron James' historic night last Tuesday before adding a 138-129 win over Portland, scoring 130-plus points for the third time in four games.
Star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has averaged 37.5 points per game against New Orleans this season, pouring in a career-high 44 points against the Pelicans on Dec. 23. He scored 44 points again on Friday, with all of the baskets coming in the paint against Portland. The Thunder have covered the spread in 13 of their last 17 games, while New Orleans is on a six-game road losing streak and lists CJ McCollum (ankle) as questionable to play.
Why the Pelicans can cover
New Orleans has won three of its last four games, picking up wins over the Lakers, Kings and Hawks before losing to Cleveland on Friday. The Pelicans blew out the Kings by 32 points last Sunday and added a 116-107 win over Atlanta last Tuesday. They are not going to have Zion Williamson available on Monday night, but Josh Richardson is expected to play after being acquired from San Antonio at the trade deadline.
Richardson has been a solid player this season, averaging 11.5 points, 3.3 assists and 2.8 rebounds per game while shooting 35.7% from beyond the arc. The Pelicans won the first two meetings between these teams this season, despite Gilgeous-Alexander's performances. They have also won four of their last five games in Oklahoma City, so they will be confident coming into this game.
How to make Pelicans vs. Thunder picks
The model has simulated Thunder vs. Pelicans 10,000 times and the results are in. We can tell you that the model is leaning Under, and it's also generated a point-spread pick that is hitting in well over 60% of simulations. You can only see the pick at SportsLine.
So who wins Pelicans vs. Thunder? And which side of the spread hits well over 60% of the time? Visit SportsLine to see which side of the Thunder vs. Pelicans spread to jump on, all from the advanced model that has crushed its NBA picks, and find out.
