Portland Trail Blazers vs New Orleans Pelicans NBA Picks, Odds, Predictions 3/16/21

The New Orleans Pelicans invade the Moda Center to take on the Portland Trailblazers on Tuesday night.

The New Orleans Pelicans have split their last six games and they will be aiming for a third straight victory after routing the Clippers in a 135-115 home win on Sunday. Zion Williamson led the team with 27 points and five assists on 13 of 16 shooting, Brandon Ingram added 23 points with five assists, Lonzo Ball scored 20 points with five assists while Jaxson Hayes chipped in with 17 points off the bench. As a team, the Pelicans shot a sizzling 65 percent from the field and 12 of 26 from the 3-point line as they set the tone with 36 points in the first quarter, pouring in another 43 points in the third quarter to put the game to bed early.

Meanwhile, the Portland Trailblazers have been in decent form as they’ve won four of their past six games, but they will be hoping to bounce back after getting stopped by the Timberwolves in a 114-112 road loss on Sunday. Damian Lillard led the team with 38 points, seven rebounds and four assists, Gary Trent Jr. added 21 points while Robert Covington chipped in with 19 points, seven rebounds and five assists. As a team, the Trailblazers shot 43 percent from the field and 17 of 45 from the 3-point line as they got off to a slow start and fell behind by as many as 14 points, before seeing their fourth-quarter rally come up just short.

Looking at the betting trends, the Pelicans are 3-7 ATS in their last 10 road games and 1-5 ATS in their last six games following an ATS win. The Trailblazers are 1-4 ATS in their last five games against a team with a losing record and 0-4 ATS in their last four games overall.

Head to head, the over is 7-3 in the last 10 meetings overall, the Pelicans are 5-2 ATS in the last seven meetings in Portland and the Pelicans are 4-1 ATS in the last five meetings overall.

The Pelicans have come to life with a couple of wins in a row, while the Trailblazers were in hot form before getting stopped by the shorthanded Timberwolves in a disappointing loss on Sunday. The Trailblazers are the more consistent and reliable team, but with their long list of injuries, the Pelicans are a real chance of taking down the Trailblazers while they’re still shorthanded. This should be a close one, but I’m leaning towards the Pelicans to pull off the minor upset here.