Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder are 13-1 in the 2025-26 season and running through every team in their path heading into Monday’s matchup with the New Orleans Pelicans.
It’s been a rough season for the Pelicans, who have just two wins so far and are coming off a loss against the Golden State Warriors on Sunday night.
Zion Williamson (hamstring) did not play against Golden State, and he’s up in the air for this matchup as well.
OKC is a massive favorite on the road in this game, and it’s gone 8-6 against the spread, including a 31-point win at home over these Pelicans.
Can they cover the spread on Monday? Here’s a look at the latest odds, my favorite prop bet and a prediction for this Western Conference matchup.
Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook.
Spread
Moneyline
Total
Thunder Injury Report
Pelicans Injury Report
Thunder Best NBA Prop Bet
This season, SGA is averaging 7.4 points per game in the first quarter, and he could be in line for a huge game against a New Orleans defense that is 28th in the league in defensive rating.
Bettors may want to avoid full game props with the Thunder favored by so much in this game, but I don’t mind betting on the Thunder to get off to a strong start. New Orleans is allowing 31.2 first quarter points this season while ranking 27th in opponent field goal percentage.
SGA may get going early on Monday night.
There’s a chance New Orleans gets Williamson back in this game, but the Pelicans already have a 31-point loss to the Thunder this season and have a brutal net rating of -13.1 this season.
SGA and the Thunder lead the NBA in net rating at +15.4, and they’re 8-6 against the spread with a +15.4 scoring margin in those games. So, it wouldn’t be shocking to see OKC win by around 15 or more points.
I won’t be trusting this New Orleans team after it lost by double digits in a game where Steph Curry struggled mightily on Sunday night.
The Pelicans are a bottom four team in offensive rating, defensive rating and net rating this season, and the Thunder are top five in all of those categories including an insane 102.8 defensive rating.
I’ll lay the points with OKC with Chet Holmgren and SGA expected to suit up on Monday.
Pick: Thunder -17.5 (-110 at DraftKings)
Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
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Find Peter Dewey’s NBA betting record here (futures included). You can also follow my daily plays on BetStamp here.
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