Los Angeles Lakers vs. New Orleans Pelicans Prediction, NBA Odds
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Edgar Chaput
Both clubs sport identical 33-35 records, but LA is 11th in the West to New Orleans’ 12th ranking by virtue of the Lakers leading the season series 2-1.
Check the NBA odds as they develop.
Lakers vs. Pelicans NBA Betting Odds
Of the three times the Californian and Louisianian sides have met on the hardwood floor, Darvin Ham’s Lakers have walked away winners twice already. Given the tight nature of their tussling in the standings, a third win by LA could go a long way in deciding who partakes in the play-in round. Of note, only home clubs have won this year.
The Lakers had a nice thing going for a short while until the Jalen Brunson-less Knicks spoiled the fun on Sunday, halting a three-game win streak. Betters should take note that the under has connected in four of the previous five Lakers contests. It’s also been over a month (Feb. 2) since an outright win-loss result diverged from a spread when the Lakers beat the Pacers but failed to cover.
Life without Zion Williamson in the lineup is obviously not the same as life with Zion Williamson in the lineup. It seems hard to imagine now that earlier in the campaign New Orleans threatened the top spot in the conference. The club is playing .500 basketball over its previous six games, which doesn’t sound great until one realizes that prior to that it lost six out of seven. Keeping with the theme of wins and losses corresponding to spreads, the last time the results differed for the Pelicans was way back on Jan 24.
Los Angeles Lakers
Although the team is playing better basketball these days, all Los Angeles needs to do is keep the ship from sinking while LeBron James recovers from injury. Thankfully, D’Angelo Russell is playing lights out since returning to the Purple and Gold, giving the side a chance every night.
On Sunday the Lakers played host to the Knicks. It was one of the better games of the NBA’s Sunday lineup (the barn burner in Denver was pretty good also), a contest that went down to the wire. The hosts once again shot very well, hitting 48.3 per cent of their field goals. Russell led the way with 33 off a terrific 13-for-19 day. Once again he proved lethal from range, nailing six of his 11 attempts. Unfortunately for them, Julius Randle picked himself up after a miserable game against the Clippers and scored 33 to go along with Canadian RJ Barrett’s 30. Anthony Davis wasn’t poor per se (16 rebounds) but if he had been a bit more aggressive he’d have scored more than just 17 and maybe given the Lakers a win instead of a 112-107 loss.
New Orleans Pelicans
We mentioned how much more trying the season has been for Willie Green’s ensemble without its superstar Zion. That doesn’t mean the Pelicans can’t take care of business against lackadaisical sides like the Damian Lillard-less Trail Blazers .
In contrast to the Knicks-Lakers match, this was an awful game. Well, awful for neutrals who wanted some good basketball and Portland supporters. Pelicans fans were delighted with what they witnessed. 127-110 as a final score suggests the game was never close, but it was actually even worse than that. The hosts led by a whopping 39 points at one stage, boosted in no small part by ridiculous 47.5 per cent three-point efficiency. Trey Murphy III was a man on a mission, hitting nine of his 14 attempts from downtown, rocketing his tally to 41 total points. Two players, he and Herbert Jones, finished the game with +/- differentials over 40! Former Raptor Jonas Valanciunas was rock solid with +29 via sensational defending. This was never a contest.
LAL
NO