Pelicans vs. Hawks Pick
Is a high-scoring game in the cards tonight at 7:30PM ET when the New Orleans Pelicans battle the host Atlanta Hawks?
Who Oddsmakers Like: New Orleans. According to oddsmakers at Bovada.lv, the Pelicans are a 2.5-point favorite on the spread line. The total is set at 220 points. New Orleans opened as a 4-point fave, while the total has jumped after opening at 218.
Who the Public Likes: As of Wednesday morning, the Pelicans are receiving 66 percent of public bets.
Injury Report: Pelicans point guard Jameer Nelson has missed the last two games while dealing with a personal matter and is questionable for tonight’s game. Frank Jackson is targeting a late January return from a broken foot. Tony Allen is out until early February with a fractured fibula. Alex Ajinca is out for the season with a patellar tendon injury. Solomon Hill is out until sometime in February with a torn hamstring. For the Hawks, guard Marco Belinelli is probable despite a sprained ankle. Dewayne Dedmon is likely to play despite dealing with a stress reaction in his tibia. Mike Muscala is probable to play despite a sprained ankle. DeAndre Bembry is out indefinitely with a sprained ankle.
Who the Trends Like: New Orleans is 5-1 ATS in the last six meetings in Atlanta. The under is 4-0 in the last four meetings overall and 12-4 in the last 16 meetings in Atlanta.
Who We Like: New Orleans is on a back-to-back and its last two games, wins at New York and Boston, both went to overtime. I don’t think this will particularly impact the Pelicans offense tonight, not when they have DeMarcus Cousins and the red-hot Anthony Davis to dominate the inside against an Atlanta team that has no answers defensively. But New Orleans is already a poor defensive team and now it will have tired legs. Roll with the over here and take confidence in that oddsmakers have already moved it up a couple points.
NBA DAILY PREDICTION: PELICANS/HAWKS OVER 220