Washington Wizards (22-26) vs. New Orleans Pelicans (26-23)
January 28, 2023 8:00 pm EDT
The Line: New Orleans Pelicans -4.5; Over/Under: +233
(Get latest betting odds)
The Washington Wizards and the New Orleans Pelicans duke it out at the Smoothie King Center on Saturday night.
The Washington Wizards have been in decent shape as they’ve won five of their last seven games overall and they will be gunning for a fifth straight win after sneaking past the Rockets in a 108-103 road win on Wednesday. Kyle Kuzma led the team with 33 points and nine rebounds, Bradley Beal added 17 points while Kendrick Nunn chipped in with 12 points off the bench for his new team. As a team, the Wizards shot just 39 percent from the field and 12 of 38 from the 3-point line as they struggled to find their offense to start and trailed by as many as 19 points before they stormed back with 65 points in the second half pull off one of their best comebacks of the season.
Meanwhile, the New Orleans Pelicans have been in a real slump as they’ve lost nine of their last 12 games overall and they will be hoping to arrest a six-game slide after getting beaten by the Timberwolves in a 111-102 loss on Wednesday. CJ McCollum led the team with 25 points and eight assists, Jonas Valanciunas added 15 points with 12 rebounds on seven of nine shooting while Brandon Ingram chipped in with 13 points and five assists on four of 18 shooting. As a team, the Pelicans shot 43 percent from the field and 12 of 38 from the 3-point line as they set the tone with 34 points in the first quarter to take the early lead, but they couldn’t maintain that pace and got blown away by 39-21 in the third quarter to fall short in the end.
Looking at the betting trends, the Wizards are 6-2 ATS in their last eight road games, 7-3 ATS in their last 10 games against a team with a winning record and 4-0 ATS in their last four games overall. The Pelicans are 5-1 ATS in their last six games against a team with a losing record and 13-6 ATS in their last 19 home games against a team with a losing road record.
Head to head, the under is 13-4 in the last 17 meetings in New Orleans, the Wizards are 0-4 ATS in the last four meetings in New Orleans and the Wizards are 2-5 ATS in the last seven meetings overall.
The Wizards will again be shorthanded as Kristaps Porzingis is listed as doubtful, while the Pelicans will be missing Zion Williamson and Dyson Daniels. The Wizards are coming into this meeting as the team in better form despite looking far from convincing in their narrow win over the lowly Rockets on Wednesday, while the Pelicans have continued their struggles despite getting Ingram back on the court. The Pelicans could really do with a win to get their season back on track, but the Wizards have looked good lately and I think they can escape with the minor upset in this spot.
