Oklahoma City Thunder vs Denver Nuggets Prediction, 12/16/2023 Preview and Pick
Game: Oklahoma City Thunder vs Denver Nuggets
Date: Saturday, December 16, 2023
Location: Ball Arena in Denver, CO
TV: Altitude
Odds/Point Spread: Oklahoma City (+6)
The Oklahoma City Thunder (15-8) are en route to Ball Arena on Saturday where they will attempt to beat the Denver Nuggets (17-9). Denver opens this contest as 6-point favorites. The total is 235.5.
The Thunder faced off with the Kings and took a loss by a final of 128-123 in their last game. With respect to personal fouls, the Thunder finished with 25 while the Kings finished the game with 22 personal fouls. They also buried 18 out of their 45 attempts from downtown. Sacramento ended up shooting 76.2% when shooting free throws by burying 16 of their 21 attempts. Additionally, Sacramento totaled 47 rebounds (11 offensive, 36 defensive) and had 7 blocks. Sacramento earned 32 dimes and had 6 steals in this contest. When discussing the defense, Oklahoma City allowed their opponent to shoot 49.5% from the field on 47 out of 95 shooting. They also doled out 26 assists in the game as well as creating 17 turnovers and getting 8 steals. When talking about grabbing rebounds, they collected 44 with 16 of them being of the offensive variety. At the charity stripe, the Thunder converted 24 of their 27 tries for a rate of 88.9%. Oklahoma City wrapped up the contest with a 43.1% field goal percentage (44 out of 102) and converted 11 out of their 36 shots from beyond the perimeter.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is one guy who was a major contributor for this contest. He recorded 43 points on 13 out of 27 shooting. He was on the hardwood for 38 mins and totaled 6 boards. Gilgeous-Alexander finished shooting 48.1% from the floor and dished out 9 dimes.
Oklahoma City comes into this one with a record of 15-8 this season. They lose possession via turnover 13.0 times per contest and as a unit are committing 20.4 personal fouls on a nightly basis. As a team, Oklahoma City is pulling down 41.1 rebounds per contest and has totaled 584 dimes so far this season, which is 23rd in the NBA in terms of passing. The Thunder are shooting 38.7% on three-point shots (294 of 759) and 85.5% from the charity stripe. They average 120.5 pts per contest (5th in the league) while shooting 48.9% from the field.
On defense, the Thunder are forcing 16.9 turnovers per game while drawing 20.3 personal fouls. They currently rank 17th in basketball in giving up assists to the opposition with 617 surrendered for the campaign. The Thunder defense is allowing an opponent shooting percentage of 44.3% (922 of 2,082) and they relinquish 46.8 rebounds per game as a group. They surrender 35.4% from 3-point land while they are 15th in the NBA in points per game allowed (113.5).
When they last stepped on the court, the Nuggets walked away with a victory by a final of 124-101 when they faced the Nets. The Nuggets earned 36 defensive boards and 12 offensive boards totaling 48 for the contest. They coughed it up 8 times, while earning 13 steals for this game. The Nets were called for 23 personal fouls for this game which took the Nuggets to the charity stripe for a total of 21 shots. They were able to make 18 of those for a percentage of 85.7%. In terms of 3-pointers, Denver made 12 of 36 attempts (33.3%). When the final whistle blew, the Nuggets finished shooting 47 for 99 from the field which had them shooting 47.5%. The Nuggets permitted the Nets to make 39 of their 95 tries from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 41.1% for the game. They finished 26.7% from distance by connecting on 8 of 30 and ended up going 15 out of 20 at the free throw line (75.0%). Regarding rebounding, Denver permitted Brooklyn to snag 53 in total (18 on the offensive side).
Nikola Jokic was important for the Nuggets for this game. He made 8 of 12 in the game giving him a rate of 66.7%, and added 15 rebounds. Jokic accumulated 26 points in his 30 mins on the hardwood and had 10 assists for this game.
Denver has a record of 17-9 on the season. The Nuggets are responsible for committing 19.0 personal fouls every game and they connect on 71.9% from the free throw line. Their rate of assisting teammates is at 29.7 times per contest (2nd in basketball) and they turn it over 12.5 times per contest. Denver has accumulated 2,980 pts on the year (114.6 per contest) and they pull in 44.5 boards per game. When it comes to offense, the Nuggets are hitting on 48.9% from the field, which ranks them 3rd in the league.
The Denver defense surrenders 35.9% on shots from behind the 3-point line (292 of 814) and their opposition makes 80.6% of their shots from the free throw line. They have relinquished 25.0 assists and 43.0 rebounds every game, which ranks 9th and 10th in basketball. The Nuggets defensively are ranked 7th in the league in PPG allowed with 110.5. They have forced 12.6 TO's every game and allow teams to shoot 46.0% from the floor (10th in the league).
Who will win tonight's NBA game against the spread?
Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Oklahoma City (+6)
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