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Thursday afternoon is the NBA Trade Deadline, but the New Orleans Pelicans already made their big move by acquiring 20-point scorer and borderline All-Star CJ McCollum from Portland on Tuesday. McCollum should make his Pelicans debut Thursday vs. visiting Miami, which will be favored on the NBA odds if at full health.

How to Bet Miami at New Orleans NBA Odds & TV Info

When: Thursday, 7:30 PM ET
Where: Smoothie King Center
TV: NBA League Pass
Stream: NBA.com, NBA TV app
Radio: Tunein.com
NBA Odds: TBA (Heat will be favored)

Season Series

Miami leads 1-0, winning 113-98 at home on Nov. 17. Jimmy Butler had a triple-double of 31 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. With Miami without starters Bam Adebayo (bruised left knee) and Kyle Lowry (rest), Butler shot 10 of 12 from the field and made 10 of 12 free throws. The Heat shook off a rough start and outscored Pelicans 68-46 in the second half. Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 24 points, Brandon Ingram added 19 points and Josh Hart finished with 18 points for the Pelicans. Only Ingram is still with the team.

Miami has won six of the last seven overall against the Pelicans and leads 22-20 all-time but is 6-14 on the road.

Why Bet on Miami?

Miami enters the final game of a season-long six-game, 11-day road trip. It’s the Heat’s 32^nd road game of the season, the most road games in the NBA.

The Heat have won three straight and are atop the Eastern Conference. They come off a 121-100 rout at Washington on Monday. The difference was 3-pointers. The Heat shot 18 for 32 (56.3%) from long range while the Wizards were just 7 for 31 (22.6%). Miami, which never trailed, went on a 22-1 run to take a 98-70 lead early in the fourth quarter.

Bam Adebayo accumulated 21 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Over the past five games, he’s averaged 19.2 points, 11.0 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 3.0 steals and 1.2 blocks. Jimmy Butler finished with 19 points, four assists and three rebounds.

Gabe Vincent finished with 16 points, eight assists and four rebounds. Vincent helped fill the void of Tyler Herro (knee soreness). Per 36 minutes, Vincent is averaging 14.0 points, 5.0 assists and 1.5 steals per game. Shooting 38.5 percent from three on 4.9 attempts per game, Vincent has carved out a role in Miami’s rotation. Herro is listed as probable for this game. Herro has scored a team-leading 905 points this season, already surpassing his previous single-season high of 815 in 2020-21. Additionally, he has made a team-leading 336 field goals, also surpassing his single season high of 307 in 2020-21.

The Heat are holding teams to 104.4 points this season, the fifth-lowest in the NBA, and are 18-1 when holding teams under 100. Miami is 21-1 when shooting at least 40 percent from three-point range and a perfect 13-0 when shooting at least 50 percent from the field.

The Heat made a minor trade Wednesday, sending reserve KZ Okpala to Oklahoma City for a 2026 second-round pick. Okpala was averaging just 3.7 points and 2.0 rebounds in 11.6 minutes per game when he actually did play.

Why Bet on New Orleans?

The Pelicans definitely got better on Tuesday when they acquired Portland guard CJ McCollum as well as forwards Larry Nance Jr. and Tony Snell for Josh Hart, Tomas Satoransky, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Didi Louzada and a few draft picks. McCollum, who is averaging 20.5 points, 4.5 assists and 4.3 rebounds this season, gives the Pelicans a reliable backcourt option who can hit from long range.

He has hit at least 165 3-pointers in the past six seasons and is averaging 3.2 makes from deep this season on 38.4%. McCollum ranks seventh in 3-pointers made across the league since that 2015-16 campaign. The Pelicans are making less than 33% from 3-point range this season and they are 29th in the league in 3-pointers made. Nance won’t debut for New Orleans in this game as he’s hurt but Snell might off the bench.

The Pelicans are No. 10 in the Western Conference, which puts them in the mix for the Play-In Tournament at season’s end. After starting 1-12, the Pelicans (22-32) have won four straight, including a 110-97 win against the Houston Rockets on Tuesday. Rookie Herbert Jones had 10 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and three steals. It was Jones’ first double-double of his career and he has amassed 13 steals over his last seven games. Jones is one of three NBA players to lead his team in both total steals and total blocks this season, along with Robert Covington and Nikola Jokic.

On Monday, Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram was named the Western Conference Player of the Week for games played between Jan. 31-Feb. 6. In three games played, Ingram averaged 27.3 points, 9.3 assists, 3.3 rebounds, 1.7 steals, and 1.3 blocks while committing just five total turnovers. He had 26 points in Tuesday’s win. n Ingram is one of two NBA players to average 22-plus points, five-plus assists, 5.8-plus rebounds and three or less turnovers per game, along with Kevin Durant.

New Orleans has been cleaning up on the offensive glass this season, ranking 4th in the NBA in offensive rebounds per game (11.5), leading to the Pelicans scoring second-chance opportunities. The Pels are tied for 10th in the NBA in second-chance points per game (13.9).