Oklahoma City Thunder vs Charlotte Hornets Predictions and Odds Jan 21
Oklahoma City Thunder vs Charlotte Hornets Betting Preview
WagerTalk NBA handicapper Tony Finn offers his Oklahoma City Thunder vs Charlotte Hornets betting preview for Friday, January 21. At the time of posting, the Hornets have opened as a 9-point home favorite over the road Thunder, with the total sitting at 224 points.
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| Friday, January 21 | NBA Betting Notes |
|---|---|
| Point Spread: | Oklahoma City Thunder +9 vs Charlotte Hornets |
| Total: | 224 Points |
| Game Time: | 7:10pm ET / 4:10pm PT |
| Arena: | Spectrum Center in Charlotte, NC |
| TV: | ESPN |
Oklahoma City Thunder vs Charlotte Hornets Analysis
On Friday night, the Oklahoma City Thunder (14-30, 14th in the West) are in North Carolina to oppose the Charlotte Hornets (25-20, 7th in the East). Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00pm ET at the Spectrum Center in Uptown Charlotte, NC.
Oklahoma City has dropped their previous three games heading into tonight’s matchup against the Hornets, who are 12-6 in home games this season. The Thunder have a 4-1 against the spread record when positioned at tipoff as the road underdog across their last five games. Oklahoma City has played to the Under at a 5-2 clip in the team’s previous seven matchups after allowing 100 points or more in the game prior.
In the case of Charlotte, the Hornets have cashed at a 13-3 against the spread clip across the team’s last 16 home games. The Under has been the final score winning-game proposition in five of the Hornets’ last six games overall. Furthermore, the Under has cashed at a 5-1 clip in the previous six and 4-0 to the Under in the last four meetings at Charlotte between these two foes.
There has been a metamorphosis for the Charlotte Hornets across the past two weeks. As a collective, the players have played their most effecient basketball, the coaches have game planned at the highest level, and as a result, the squad has beaten some of the best teams in the league, and they’ve won six of their last seven overall.
“We’re not satisfied,” Charlotte guard Terry Rozier told the national media in the presser following their 111-102 victory over Boston on Wednesday, “We’re going to stay humble, keep playing hard, and have fun out there,” added Rozier.
Oklahoma City Thunder Offer Return to Their Backers
The Thunder have scuffled the last three weeks. OKC is just 2-8 straight up since New Year’s Eve. The straight-up mark is in line with their 7-3 against the spread mark in that same game period. Also, the Thunder are 6-16 straight up in road games this season but are 14-8 against the spread playing the role of the visitor.
Defensive stalwart Luguentz Dort is shooting just 32.5 percent from beyond the arc and is averaging nearly three-made three-pointers per game this season. Dort is the team’s best man-up defender and the second leading scorer averaging 16.6 points per game. Point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander leads the team in scoring with 21.7 points and 6.1 assists in the team’s last ten scheduled games.
Oklahoma City ranks 29th in offensive efficiency this season (103.0) according to the CleaningTheGlass.com metrics. In half-court sets, the Thunder offensive philosophy is for the guards and wings to attack the glass and challenge the opposing rim protectors or drive and dish for open looks beyond the arc.
The Thunder have been consistently porous offensively the last two weeks. OKC ranks last in the NBA in points per game, scoring just north of the century mark with officially 100.7 points per game. In addition, they have scuffled to connect at a high percentage of their shots at the 3-line shooting, just 31.2 percent.
To Buy or Not to Buy the Hornets’ Recent Defensive Rating
On Wednesday, the Hornets are coming off a 111-102 victory at Boston. However, the best news for the Hornets this week was not that the defense has changed names and the color of its hair but that LaMelo Ball only missed one game. In his return to active duty on Wednesday, Ball recorded his fourth career triple-double.
“We pretty much trying to change the culture here,” Ball told the media in the post-game presser following Wednesday’s win over the Boston Celtics as three-point road dogs. . “Bring winning here.”
Miles Bridges averages 20 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 3.6 assists for the Hornets. Terry Rozier is averaging 23.1 points over the last ten games for Charlotte.
The Hornets do what middling teams are supposed to do if they want to be a part of the postseason bracket. That is beating teams they are supposed to defeat. The month of January finds Charlotte with back-to-back victories over Milwaukee, resulting in two covers. Also, the Hornets have a win over Philadelphia, New York, and Boston on Wednesday.
Oklahoma City Thunder vs Charlotte Hornets Prediction
The defense will decide tonight against the number winner. While the Thunder have not been anything special offensively, they have been consistent on the defensive end of the floor. How else does one explain that OKC has the second-best ATS mark in the NBA on the season with a 29-15 mark. The Thunder are only Cleveland who has a 30-14 ATS record.
OKC ranks 19th in defensive efficiency (111.1) and attempts shots at the rim at the eighth highest frequency rate in the league. Furthermore, they shoot 63.4 percent at the rim. The Thunder does not allow many fastbreak points, transparent in their transition defense (117.3) rating.
Charlotte has allowed opponents to take 32.6 percent of their shots at the rim. The defensive success that the Hornets have executed across their last three games has been more about the opponent missing open looks than the Charlotte squad being better in challenging shots.
The WagerTalk pick to click is a play on the OKC Thunder and the nearly double-digit handicap.
Friday’s #NBA Notes and Trends:
📝The under is 10-3 in Charlotte’s last 13 games.
📝Orlando is 4-14 against the spread at home.
📝Miami is 7-1 ATS in their last eight games.
📝Each of Toronto’s last six games have stayed under the total.
➡️https://t.co/RHOuvHZvdC pic.twitter.com/FBWQEK20vf— GoldSheet (@thegoldsheet) January 21, 2022
Oklahoma City Thunder vs Charlotte Hornets Preview from GoldSheet
Two pointspread go-with sides collide in this one. Oklahoma City is coming off a SU and spread road setbacks on Wednesday against San Antonio, while Charlotte won in Boston 111-102 thanks to LaMelo Ball’s 15/10/10 triple double and G Terry Rozier‘s 28. Hornet F Miles Bridges has made a huge leap this season (already has six 30+ point games) and is scoring 24 ppg and shooting 50% in his last 5 games. This is the first meeting since April of last year, when Charlotte won at OKC to end a 5-game series winning streak for the Thunder.
Hornets 14-4 vs. the points at home, but the Thunder have been solid on the road, covering 14 of 22 and are 19-10 following a straight up loss. OKC has lost eight of nine straight up, so it’s not as if they can be considered dangerous to Charlotte, which has perhaps a bigger set of games coming up against Atlanta and Toronto, who are a few games behind the Hornets in the playoff standings. This has been an “under” series (5-1 last six) and Charlotte went “under” in five of last six and 10-3 last 13.
NBA Stat Sheet
Each day, WagerTalk handicapper Ralph Michaels puts together his NBA Stat Sheet, which offers a head-to-head comparison for how teams are performing in a number of key areas heading into a game. Check out Friday’s sheet, with notes on tonight’s Oklahoma City Thunder vs Charlotte Hornets contest.
NBA Tip-Off Show
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