Despite the fact that New Orleans has arguably more drama surrounding their organization than any other team in the league right now, the Pelicans have played some surprisingly solid basketball over their last trio of games. Now, the Pels will look to take care of business when they host a Philadelphia 76ers team that is clearly missing all-star center Joel Embiid.
If you’re looking to find out if New Orleans can hold it down at home in this one or whether Philly is the better pick to cover the chalk as a slight road dog, then let’s get to my expert NBA prediction right now.
76ers vs Pelicans NBA Betting Odds & Expert Preview
. 🚙💨 📍 OKC —– 📍NOLA@Kia | #HereTheyCome pic.twitter.com/doQ0mn6f28
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) 25 de febrero de 2019
- When: Monday February 25, 2019, 8:00 PM ET
- Where: Smoothie King Center, New Orleans, LA
- TV: NBATV, NSPA, FSNO
- Radio: Philadelphia / New Orleans
- Live Stream: NBA League Pass
- NBA Odds: New Orleans -1.5 / Total: 238
Why Bet on Philadelphia at +1.5?
Why should you consider betting the Philadelphia 76ers as a slight road underdog in this contest? There are a handful of reasons. First, the Sixers should be focused and hungry after getting smacked around by Portland 130-115 on Saturday.
While Philly got 29 points from point guard Ben Simmons and 20 points from recently acquired veteran Tobias Harris, the Sixers were out-rebounded by the whopping margin of 61-42 and clearly missed their gifted big man in the middle.
“We just didn’t rebound well enough against a team like this,” point guard Ben Simmons told reporters. “It’s a group effort rebounding. I think just all of us combined, I don’t think we did enough.”
“Clearly we miss Joel,” Harris told reporters. “There’s no getting around that. He’s a big piece to our team, but we don’t have him right now and we have to be able to get efforts from everybody else on the team.”Philadelphia is the better defensive team in this matchup, even though they average an identical 115.7 points per game offensively. The Sixers squeaked past the Pelicans 121-120 in the Big Easy in November and they’ve recorded a decent, but not great, 14-14 SU mark on the road this season.
Team Statistics
Offense:- Average Score For: 115.73
- Field Goals: 47.48%
- Three Points: 36.03%
- Free Throws: 77.34%
- Rebounds: 46.78
- Average Score Against: 112.32
- Field Goals: 45.44%
- Three Points: 34.22%
- Free Throws: 78.16%
- Rebounds: 43.27
Why Bet on New Orleans at -1.5?
Why should you consider betting the New Orleans Pelicans as a slight home favorite in this contest? There are a handful of good reasons to back the Pelicans in this one. First, they have clearly resigned themselves to life without superstar forward Anthony Davis who announced a few weeks back that he no longer wanted to play for the organization. This fact has opened up minutes for some other young and hungry players while shifting the team’s offensive focus to other players like veteran point guard Jrue Holiday.
Then, there’s the fact that New Orleans has played some solid basketball in winning two of their last three games including an emphatic 128-115 smackdown win over LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday in a game that Davis never saw action in. Fortunately, Davis’ lack of playing time these days has opened up minutes and paved the way for veteran forward Julius Randle and young big man Cheick Diallo.
Randle torched the Lakers for 24 points on Saturday while Diallo added 18 points and 10 rebounds for his second straight double-double. Veteran guards Ian Clark and Elfrid Payton added 17 and 14 points in the win as seven players reached double figures in scoring for New Orleans.
“I think you can take all the guys that were involved in the game in some stage,” coach Alvin Gentry told reporters. “They did something positive for us.”
Team Statistics
Offense:- Average Score For: 115.74
- Field Goals: 47.80%
- Three Points: 34.77%
- Free Throws: 76.95%
- Rebounds: 46.97
- Average Score Against: 115.02
- Field Goals: 46.40%
- Three Points: 36.49%
- Free Throws: 75.28%
- Rebounds: 44.72
76ers vs Pelicans NBA Betting Trends
- Philadelphia is 4-2 ATS in the last 6 games on the road
- Philadelphia is 4-2 SU in the last 6 games
- The total went UNDER in 7 of Philadelphia’s last 10 games
- New Orleans is 2-4 ATS in the last 6 games
- New Orleans is 2-4 SU in the last 6 games when playing Philadelphia
- The total went OVER in 5 of New Orleans’s last 7 games
Expert Analysis and Prediction
I know the Philadelphia 76ers haven’t looked particularly good the last couple of games and New Orleans has played solid ball despite their roster-altering changes caused by Anthony Davis’ announcement, but I’m thinking the Sixers know they’re the better team in this matchup and that they’re going to respond with some solid play because of their embarrassing loss to the Blazers over the weekend.
Philadelphia has gone 4-0 ATS in their last four games following a double-digit loss at home and 4-1 ATS in their last five games following an SU loss. Conversely, New Orleans is just 6-13-1 ATS in their last 20 games following a ATS win and 3-12-1 ATS in their last 16 games following a straight up win.
This one is going to be a brawl, but Philly still has the edge in talent with Simmons, Harris and enigmatic shooting guard Jimmy Butler.
NBA Betting Pick: Philadelphia 115 New Orleans 112
