Pelicans vs Thunder

Oklahoma City enters this one as a massive -1000 home moneyline favorite, with the 37-10 Thunder battling for the West’s top seed while the 12-36 Pelicans languish near the bottom despite a mini-resurgence on this road swing. Even with Jalen Williams, Isaiah Hartenstein and several rotation guards sidelined, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Chet Holmgren lead a deeper, championship-tested roster that already blasted New Orleans 137-106 here in November, when SGA dropped 30 points and OKC pushed its head-to-head streak over the Pels to 11 straight—while Zion Williamson and Trey Murphy III still couldn’t keep it competitive. espn.com I’d grade Thunder moneyline as a B+ pick: extremely likely to cash and solid as a parlay anchor given OKC’s overall form and playoff urgency, but the return at -1000 is thin for single-wager exposure. Odds and availability are subject to change. This bet was made at 27/01/2026 10:03

New Orleans’ recent games against Detroit, Memphis and San Antonio have all landed in the low- to mid-220s, while Oklahoma City’s last three outings—including a 122-102 win in Milwaukee followed by tight home losses to Indiana and Toronto—have also clustered below this 234.5 number. The earlier 137-106 Thunder blowout of the Pelicans here sailed over this total, but that result was driven by OKC shooting 42% from three and getting a massive efficiency spike that’s tough to replicate, especially now that the Thunder are down multiple creators and their frontcourt rotation is thinner. With New Orleans missing Dejounte Murray’s on-ball juice, OKC short-handed around Shai, and both sides keenly aware of seeding and lottery implications halfway through the schedule, I lean to the under 234.5 at -118 and grade it a B: the number looks a bit high relative to current form and injuries, but late-game garbage time in a potential blowout keeps it from elite confidence. Odds and availability are subject to change. This bet was made at 27/01/2026 10:03

Zion Williamson’s interior scoring and playmaking, paired with Trey Murphy III’s spacing and Herb Jones’ defense, give New Orleans at least some tools to hang around against a Thunder team that just lost two straight at home and is missing Jalen Williams, Hartenstein and several depth pieces. The Pelicans have quietly played more competitive basketball this past week—an eight-point loss to Detroit followed by wins in Memphis and San Antonio—so asking OKC to win by 15 or more feels rich given its banged-up rotation and the natural tendency of a contender to manage minutes with the postseason in mind. That said, the Thunder already buried this matchup by 31 earlier in the season and have dominated the series for years, so I’ll take Pelicans +14.5 at -110 but only at a B- grade, acknowledging real blowout risk even if the number slightly favors the underdog. Odds and availability are subject to change. This bet was made at 27/01/2026 10:03