Charlotte Hornets at New Orleans Pelicans 1/8/21: NBA Basketball free preview, analysis, prediction, odds and pick against the spread.
2021-01-08 19:30:00 EDT
The Charlotte Hornets and New Orleans Pelicans meet Friday in NBA action at the Smoothie King Center.
The Charlotte Hornets need a win after splitting their last six games. The Charlotte Hornets are averaging 106.6 points on 43.4 percent shooting and allowing 110 points on 46.4 percent shooting. Gordon Hayward is averaging 21.9 points and 5.8 rebounds while Terry Rozier is averaging 20.6 points and 2.8 assists. LeMelo Ball is the third double-digit scorer and PJ Washington is dishing 2.8 assists. The Charlotte Hornets are shooting 35.1 percent from beyond the arc and 72.2 percent from the free thitem line. The Charlotte Hornets are allowing 33.6 percent shooting from deep and are grabbing 44.9 rebounds per game.
The New Orleans Pelicans need a win here to get a game above a .500 record. The New Orleans Pelicans are averaging 106.8 points on 45.2 percent shooting and allowing 105.1 points on 44.2 percent shooting. Brandon Ingram is averaging 24.9 points and seven rebounds while Zion Williamson is averaging 21.4 points and 8.1 rebounds. Lonzo Ball is the third double-digit scorer and Eric Bledsoe is dishing 4.1 assists. The New Orleans Pelicans are shooting 31 percent from beyond the arc and 70.9 percent from the free thitem line. The New Orleans Pelicans are allowing 36 percent shooting from deep and are grabbing 50 rebounds per game.
The Hornets are 10-2-1 ATS in their last 13 games as an underdog and 7-2-1 ATS in their last 10 games playing on 1 days rest. The Pelicans are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 home games and 3-8 ATS in their last 11 games overall. The under is 6-1 in Hornets last 7 overall. The under is 13-5 in Pelicans last 18 overall. The Hornets are 4-11 ATS in the last 15 meetings in New Orleans and 2-5 ATS in the last 7 meetings.
The Charlotte Hornets aren’t the sexiest team in the world and have issues offensively, but they compete and have been solid at covering numbers in the underdog role. The New Orleans Pelicans are the better team here, but they also have issues scoring, can’t hit the deep ball and it prevents them from pulling away. The Pelicans should win this game, but the Hornets in the underdog role has some value. I’ll take a stab with the points here.
