Oklahoma City Thunder vs New Orleans Pelicans Prediction, 11/17/2025 Preview and Pick

Game: Oklahoma City Thunder vs New Orleans Pelicans

Date: Monday, November 17, 2025

Location: Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, LA

TV: Gulf Coast Sports

The New Orleans Pelicans (2-9) will compete against the Oklahoma City Thunder (12-1) at Smoothie King Center on Monday.

The Thunder took the court against the Lakers and notched a win by a score of 121-92 in their last game. Oklahoma City wrapped up the game with a 50.0% FG percentage (44 out of 88) and made 12 out of their 39 shots from beyond the perimeter. From the free throw line, the Thunder converted 21 of their 23 attempts for a rate of 91.3%. When talking about grabbing rebounds, they earned a total of 42 with 6 of them being offensive. They also recorded 28 dimes for the matchup as well as forcing the other team into 20 turnovers and getting 14 steals. In the matter of defense, Oklahoma City allowed the other team to go 40.3% from the floor on 31 out of 77 shooting. Los Angeles distributed 19 dimes and had 9 steals for this game. Additionally, Los Angeles grabbed 42 rebounds (9 offensive, 33 defensive) and had 4 blocks. Los Angeles walked away from this one shooting 67.9% at the free throw line by knocking down 19 of their 28 attempts. They also converted 11 out of their 35 shots from beyond the arc. In reference to personal fouls, the Thunder walked away with 19 and the Lakers racked up 19 personal fouls.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is one guy who was a major factor in this matchup. Gilgeous-Alexander finished shooting 55.6% from the floor and distributed 9 assists. He played 29 mins and pulled down 5 rebounds. He accumulated 30 points on 10 out of 18 shooting.

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Oklahoma City will play this game with a mark of 12-1 for the season. They cough up possession 12.3 times per contest and as a unit they are committing 21.6 fouls on a nightly basis. As a unit, Oklahoma City is snagging 47.0 boards per contest and has 331 assists for the campaign, which ranks 9th in the league in terms of passing the rock. The Thunder are connecting on 33.8% on shots from 3-point land (177 of 524) and 86.3% from the charity stripe. They have an average of 122.5 pts per contest (4th in the league) on 47.6% from the floor.

Defensively, the Thunder are forcing their opponents into 17.8 turnovers per contest while drawing 23.2 fouls. They are giving up 36.9% on three-point shots and they are 1st in the league in PPG allowed (107.0). The Thunder defense is allowing a field goal percentage of 42.0% (472 of 1,125) and they relinquish 44.2 rebounds per game as a basketball team. They are 15th in the league in allowing assists with 310 conceded so far this season.

When they last stepped on the hardwood, the Pelicans took a loss by a final score of 125-117 when they faced the Trail Blazers. With respect to how they cleaned up the glass, New Orleans permitted Portland to get 39 in total (9 on the offensive glass). They finished the game shooting 35.1% from 3-point land by going 13 of 37 and walked away from this one shooting 16 of 17 at the charity stripe (94.1%). The Pelicans permitted the Trail Blazers to knock down 48 out of their 83 attempts from the field which left them shooting 57.8% for this contest. Overall, the Pelicans shot 43 for 91 from the field which had them at 47.3%. When talking about shooting from downtown, New Orleans buried 13 out of their 39 tries (33.3%). They were able to convert 18 of the free throw tries for a rate of 85.7%. The Trail Blazers were called for 22 fouls in the matchup which got the Pelicans to the free throw line for 21 attempts. They also turned the ball over 10 times, while getting 6 steals for the game. The Pelicans were able to snag 20 defensive boards and 15 offensive boards totaling 35 in this matchup.

Derik Queen ended up having an impact for the Pelicans in the matchup. He converted 12 of 18 in this contest giving him a rate of 66.7%, and had 7 rebounds. Queen earned 26 points in his 38 mins on the court and tallied 4 dimes in the matchup.

New Orleans has a win-loss mark of 2-9 for the campaign. As an offensive unit, the Pelicans are shooting 43.6% from the floor, which is ranked 27th in the league. New Orleans has 1,197 points on the season (108.8 per game) and they collect 41.3 rebounds per game. They are earning an assist 22.7 times per game (30th in basketball) and they cough up possession 14.6 times per contest. The Pelicans are committing 20.5 fouls every game and they shoot 75.8% from the charity stripe.

The New Orleans defense allows 35.4% on 3-point shots (160 of 452) and their opposition knocks down 81.1% of their shots from the free throw line. They surrender 26.8 assists and 45.8 rebounds per game, which has them ranked 17th and 21st in the league. The Pelicans on defense are ranked 25th in the NBA in PPG given up with 121.6. They are forcing 15.0 turnovers per game and have let teams shoot 50.5% from the field (28th in the league).

Who will win tonight's NBA game against the spread?

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Oklahoma City

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