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AZMango
OKC

Oklahoma City Thunder @ New Orleans Pelicans

Any-day matchup · ratings as of

NOP
Our pick
OKCOklahoma City Thunder
66% to win

A probability, not a promise. A 66% pick still loses about 3 times in 10.

AZMango model

No market price for this matchup yet, so there is nothing to compare against.

Advantages Why Thunder can win

  1. Recent scoring margins: worth about 4.8 points to the Thunder in our ratings.
  2. Net rating (points per 100 possessions): Thunder 1st (+10.0), Pelicans 21st (-4.2).
  3. The Thunder' shooting (55.6% eFG%, 6th in the NBA) meets a Pelicans defense that ranks 23rd.
  4. The Thunder' offense (115.4 points per 100 possessions, 4th in the NBA) meets a Pelicans defense that ranks 23rd.
  5. Simulation: the Thunder win 6,580 of 10,000 simulated games.

Disadvantages Why Thunder may not

  1. Home court: the Pelicans play at home, worth about 2 points in today's NBA.
  2. Upset odds: the Pelicans win 3,420 of 10,000 simulations (34%). A 66% pick still loses about 3 times in 10.
  3. Offensive rebounding (share of misses): Pelicans 9th (26.7%), Thunder 27th (23.4%).
  4. Range of outcomes: in the worst 10% of simulations the Thunder lose by 11 or more.
  5. Weak spot: the Thunder rank 27th of 30 in offensive rebounding (share of misses) (23.4%).

The line and our numbers

MarketAZMango
SpreadNo line yetOKC -5.6
Total pointsn/a230.4
Win chanceOKC n/a · NOP n/aOKC 66% · NOP 34%
Fair moneylineOKC -193 · NOP +193

No betting line for this pairing. Odds change all the time, so check a sportsbook before acting on any number here.

10,000 simulated games, possession by possession

  • Typical score: Pelicans 113, Thunder 119.
  • 80% of simulations land between Thunder by 22 and Pelicans by 11.
See live oddsBetMGM DraftKings FanDuel

Plain links. We are not paid for them and take no bets.

Side by side

OKCNOP
4-1Record1-4
+10.0 1Net rating-4.2 21
115.4 4Offensive rating111.2 18
105.5 1Defensive rating115.4 23
55.6% 6Effective FG%52.8% 26
51.8% 3Opponent eFG%55.5% 23
12.5 1Turnovers per 10013.8 10
23.4% 27Offensive rebound %26.7% 9
36.2% 103-point %34.4% 25
102.2 18Pace104.1 8

Small numbers are league ranks (1 = best of 30; pace 1 = fastest). Ratings are points per 100 possessions (2025-26 and 2026-27 seasons).

Last 5 meetings

DateSeasonScoreWinner
2026-01-272025-26NOP 95 @ OKC 104OKC
2025-11-172025-26OKC 126 @ NOP 109OKC
2025-11-022025-26NOP 106 @ OKC 137OKC
2025-04-132024-25OKC 115 @ NOP 100OKC
2025-02-102024-25NOP 101 @ OKC 137OKC

No betting line exists for a game that isn't scheduled, so this uses our own power ratings (in the backtest they pick about 66% of winners, against about 68% for the closing line), with both teams at full strength.

Basis: power ratings only (no betting line yet). 10,000 simulated games, checked against a walk-forward backtest of 10,227 NBA games since 2018-19. Model version 1. How it works