New Orleans Pelicans vs Los Angeles Lakers betting tips and predictions for Saturday’s NBA game on ESPN 2. Anthony Davis and his Lakers face his former team the Pelicans as they try to win their 3rd game in a row. Read on for all our free predictions and betting tips.
New Orleans Pelicans
It’s been a rough go for the Pelicans to start 2023 as they’ve now lost 10 games in a row and dropped to 10th in the West standings. Injuries have played a big part in that, with Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson missing large chunks of the season. Ingram is back and trying to get into basketball shape again, while there’s still no sign of Williamson as he’s dealing with a hamstring injury. Facing the Lakers will be tough, but the Pels have every right to be optimistic ahead of this game as they’ve covered the spread 7 times in the last 10 meetings with LA when playing at home. If they want to stand a chance here, New Orleans has to clean up their three-point defense. Opponents are scoring 39.2% of their threes against them over the last 3 games.
Los Angeles Lakers
We are 63 points away from history, that’s how much Lebron James needs to score to set a new all-time scoring record in the NBA. It probably won’t happen tonight, King James is aiming to do it some time in the next 2 games at home either vs Oklahoma City or Milwaukee. Before that happens, the Lakers can focus their attention to the Pelicans fully. They’ve beaten them already once this season, by 3 points after OT at home back in early November. Anthony Davis had only 20 points vs his old team, but also grabbed 16 rebounds. He’ll be looking to up that number tonight, in what should be a high paced game. LA is on a good run right now having covered 12 times in their last 18 games, they are also 9-4 SU in the last 13 vs New Orleans.
The Pelicans are bound to turn things around, but I don’t think tonight is the night. The Lakers are in much better form, with James chasing history all eyes will be on them and they must deliver a win on the road. Take LA with confidence.
New Orleans Pelicans vs Los Angeles Lakers Predictions & Odds
A total of 237 points were scored in the first meeting of the season, the way both of these teams have been playing lately I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw a similar number tonight. The Lakers love to push the pace, they are 16-12 on the O/U in road games this season. New Orleans has been trending towards the over in games vs Pacific Division teams with 9 of the last 13 games cashing on that bet. With Brandon Ingram getting his legs under him, they’ll soon be a force on offense. They’ve had 29 of 53 games finish over the total this season, they rank in the upper echelon in terms of pace averaging 102.3 possessions per game. The Lakers are 4th in that department which should really help speed things up here. LA ranking only 20th in defensive efficiency is a clear sign they try to outscore opponents to win games on a nightly basis. I think that will be the plan in tonight’s game as well, so let’s go with the over.
- Lakers -1 Point Spread is available at -110 odds on bet365
- Over 235.5 Total Points is available at -110 odds on bet365
