Pelicans vs. Thunder SGP picks Game 2: Bet on OKC to win, Gilgeous-Alexander to fill the basket
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Gilgeous-Alexander had 28 points in Game 1. Photo by Eric Christian Smith/AP.
Avery Perri
@AveryPerri
April 24, 2024

The Oklahoma City Thunder and New Orleans Pelicans are back at it on Wednesday for Game 2.

The pregame narrative: OKC squeaked out a victory in the opener but I expect a more complete effort from the team tonight. Bet the Thunder to cover an alternate spread alongside Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Trey Murphy props.

Check out the full Pelicans vs. Thunder SGP picks for Game 2 of their first-round matchup on April 24.

Pelicans vs. Thunder SGP picks

Parlay: Thunder -2.5 + Gilgeous-Alexander over 27.5 points + Murphy over 5.5 rebounds (+295)

Thunder -2.5 (-286): Sunday's series opener was a rock fight that nearly swung in the Pelicans' favour. The Thunder escaped with a 94-92 victory and CJ McCollum had an opportunity to win the game with a last-second triple.

Things went exactly how New Orleans wanted – except for the win, of course.

The Thunder played with the fifth-fastest pace this year (100.85 possessions/game) while the Pelicans ranked 16th (98.70).

Slowing the game down was New Orleans' only chance at success with Zion Williamson sidelined. The Thunder only had 94 possessions in Game 1, and they would be wise to push the pace in Game 2.

Both teams had a nightmarish shooting performance but I have more faith in the Thunder regressing to the mean. OKC shot 43.5% from the field and 31.3% from deep, well below its season-long averages of 49.9% (third) and 38.9% (first).

The Thunder were an impressive 23-12 ATS as a home favourite this season and covered this number in 30 of 41 games at Paycom Center (73.17%).

They're a young team that likely had first-game jitters. I wouldn't be surprised to see a blowout tonight.

Other parlay picks

Gilgeous-Alexander over 27.5 points (-165): Gilgeous-Alexander dropped 28 points in Game 1 on a subpar 11-of-24 shooting performance.

Much like the Thunder as a whole, I expect SGA to be even better tonight.

The MVP candidate averaged 30.1 points per game this season and had the second-best field goal percentage (53.5%) among all qualified guards.

The only person above him was Indiana's TJ McConnell (55.6%) and he took 11.4 fewer shots per game.

Gilgeous-Alexander went over this mark in 55 of 75 regular season games (73.3%) and the Pels aren't a particularly tough matchup.

They allowed the 14th-most PPG to point guards this year, per Fantasy Pros.

Murphy over 5.5 rebounds (-139): I took this pick in Game 1 and got burned but am confident in it coming through this time.

The Thunder can't rebound. OKC was 28th in rebounding rate (48.4%) and offensive rebounding rate (25.0%) this season and got beaten on the glass 52-to-44 in the opener.

Murphy had four of those boards but he should do better tonight.

The third-year swingman is playing power forward with Williamson sidelined. He cleared this mark in five of nine games without Zion this year and got a team-high 44 minutes of playing time on Sunday.

OKC gave up the second-most rebounds per game to power forwards this year.

Picks as of 1:57 p.m. on 04/24/2024.

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