Game 2 of the best of 7 series in the Western Conference will feature the New Orleans Pelicans on the road at the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder won the first game of the series, and will look to keep command of the series before it heads to New Orleans for the next two games.
New Orleans went 49-33 in the regular season, and fell into the play-in game. The Pelicans lost the first game to the Lakers, but then bounced back at home and beat the Sacramento Kings. New Orkeans went 5-5 down the stretch to fall to 7th.
For the Oklahoma City Thunder, they are the top seed in the Western Conference. The Thunder won their final five games of the regular season to finish with a 57-25 record. That was tied with the Denver Nuggets. Oklahoma City won the opening game 94-92.
The Oklahoma City Thunder are -7.5 in this game over New Orleans. The total is set at 211.5
Pelicans Wish They Had Game 1 Back
New Orleans knows they had a chance in Game 1. The Pelicans are playing without their top scorer Zion Williamson, and nearly upset the top seeded Thunder. In the loss, Trey Murphy led the team in scoring. He scored 21 points, while CJ McCollum added 20. Jonas Valanciunas scored 13 points and ripped down 20 rebounds.
The loss of Williamson puts 22.9 points, 5 assists and more than 5 rebounds on the bench. Brandon Ingram was in and out of the lineup most of the season for the Pelicans. He finished second on the team in scoring with 20.8 per game. McCollum was third, right at 20 points per game.
The Pelicans as a team were right in the middle of the pack in team scoring. New Orleans scored 115.1 per game. The Pelicans made nearly 49% of their shots, and 38.3 from downtown. New Orleans allowed 117 points per game in their final two losses of the regular season and play-in, while allowing just 103.5 in their two most recent wins.
Star Power Leading OKC
Oklahoma City saw Shai Gilgeous-Alexander score 28 points in the Game 1 win. The guard out of Kentucky will get votes for Most Valuable Player in the league. He finished the season scoring 30.1 points per game, and dishing out 6.2 assists per game.
The Thunder also got 19 from Jalen Williams, and 15 from Chet Holmgren in their first playoff action. Holmgren played in all 82 games for Oklahoma City this season. As a team, the Thunder scored 120.1 points per game. That was third in the league, behind only the Pacers and the Celtics.
Oklahoma City won their final five games of the regular season, and scored 124 points per game during those games. In their season finale against Dallas, they scored 135, and won the game by 49 points.
Thunder Go Up 2-0 In Series
This is a game that the Oklahoma City Thunder are going to roll in. They did not play great basketball in their first game, and now are going to bounce back with a win here. New Orleans is going to found home and be down 2-0 in the series.
When push comes to shove, we are going to bet the Oklahoma City Thunder -7.5 over the New Orleans Pelicans. Good luck with all your NBA Betting!
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