The No. 1 seed Oklahoma City Thunder and the No. 8 seed New Orleans Pelicans square off in a first-round tilt on Wednesday at 9:30 p.m. ET. For this game, SportsLine consensus lists the Thunder as 7.5-point favorites, while the over/under is 211.5 points (see up-to-date odds for every game this week on our NBA odds page). 

Before you make any Pelicans vs. Thunder picks, you NEED to see what the SportsLine Projection Model has to say.

The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every NBA game 10,000 times and has returned well over $10,000 in profit for $100 players on its top-rated NBA picks over the past five-plus seasons. The model enters the second week of the 2024 NBA playoffs on a sizzling 90-58 roll on all top-rated NBA picks this season, returning more than $2,800. Anyone following has seen HUGE returns!

The model knows Oklahoma City guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is a lengthy and agile ball handler. Gilgeous-Alexander loves to attack from the mid-range with great playmaking skills. The Kentucky product dropped 28 points, six rebounds and four assists in the Game 1 victory.

The model also knows New Orleans guard CJ McCollum brings a veteran scorer onto the floor. McCollum has a reliable jumper and is able to change speeds in a hurry. The 32-year-old had 20 points, three rebounds and six assists in the loss on Sunday. This was his eight straight game with at least 20 points.

The model has simulated Pelicans vs. Thunder 10,000 times and the results are in. We can tell you that the model is leaning Over on the point total, and it also says one side of the spread hits over 50% of the time!

Who wins Pelicans vs. Thunder, and which side of the spread hits in over 50% of simulations? ... Join SportsLine right now to find out which side of the spread you should be all over, all from the model on an 90-58 roll on top-rated NBA picks!