New Orleans Pelicans vs OKC Thunder NBA ATS Pick

The New Orleans Pelicans and Oklahoma City Thunder will both be looking to pick up consecutive victories when they square off at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City on Thursday night. Kevin Durant and the red-hot Thunder will look to cover the NBA betting line as a whopping double-digit home favorite against Anthony Davis and company. Now let’s find out if they can.

New Orleans Pelicans vs Oklahoma City Thunder NBA ATS Pick

When: February 11, 8:00 PM Where: Chesapeake Energy Arena TV: TNT Radio: WWLS 98.1FM OKC NBA Betting Odds: Thunder -11.5

Why Bet the New Orleans Pelicans Odds at +11.5?

The best reason to bet the Pelicans as a big road dog is because the numbers say they’ll cover the spread. New Orleans averages 7.6 fewer points per game (102.3ppg) than Oklahoma City while giving up 2.9 more points per game than the Thunder defensively, for a 10.5-point scoring differential, or one full point less than the spread for this contest. The best reason however is the fact that New Orleans has gone 4-1 ATS over their last five meeting against the Thunder while suffering just one double-digit loss along the way, which, ironically, came by 11 points.

Why Bet the Oklahoma City Thunder Odds at -11.5?

The best reason to bet Oklahoma City in this contest is because they’re the better team – and by far I might add. The Thunder have the edge in scoring, points allowed, offensive and defensive rebounding, field goal shooting and free throw shooting…whew! I mean, if that doesn’t tell you all you need to know, then you should also know that Oklahoma City has two of the top five players in the game today in Durant and Russell Westbrook while New Orleans can only counter with the gifted Davis and a bunch of other good, but not great players.

Expert Analysis and Free Pick

While the Pelicans looked pretty good beating the young Timberwolves on Tuesday, I don’t think they’re quite ready to beat Oklahoma City on the road, especially seeing as how Kevin Durant and company are looking to win as many games as possible in an effort to potentially overtake San Antonio for second place in the Western Conference playoffs (not gonna’ happen). Having said that, let me also say that I don’t see the Thunder winning this game by a dozen points against a Pelicans team that still has plenty of potential despite their rough season so far. The Thunder have been horrific at covering the spread this season and are just 13-17-1 ATS against Western Conference teams and 3-6-1 ATS over their last 10 games. The Thunder get the win, but New Orleans gets the narrow ATS cover. My final score prediction is Oklahoma City 109 New Orleans 100