New Orleans Pelicans at Miami Heat 12/25/20: NBA Basketball free preview, analysis, prediction, odds and pick against the spread.
2020-12-25 12:00:00 EDT
The New Orleans Pelicans and Miami Heat meet Christmas Day in NBA action at the AmericanAirlines Arena.
The New Orleans Pelicans look for another win after beating the Raptors on Wednesday. The New Orleans Pelicans are averaging 113 points on 52.5 percent shooting and allowing 99 points on 42.7 percent shooting. Brandon Ingram is averaging 24 points and nine rebounds while JJ Redick is averaging 23 points and three rebounds. Eric Bledsoe is the third double-digit scorer and Lonzo Ball is dishing two assists. The New Orleans Pelicans are shooting 45.2 percent from beyond the arc and 50 percent from the free thitem line. The New Orleans Pelicans are allowing 30.4 percent shooting from deep and are grabbing 45 rebounds per game.
The Miami Heat need a win after losing to the Magic on Wednesday. The Miami Heat are averaging 107 points on 50.6 percent shooting and allowing 113 points on 47.7 percent shooting. Bam Adebayo is averaging 25 points and 11 rebounds while Goran Dragic is averaging 20 points and seven assists. Jimmy Butler is the third double-digit scorer and Duncan Robinson is grabbing five rebounds. The Miami Heat are shooting 35 percent from beyond the arc and 84.2 percent from the free thitem line. The Miami Heat are allowing 35.7 percent shooting from deep and are grabbing 43 rebounds per game.
The Pelicans are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 road games and 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games overall. The Heat are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 home games and 16-6 ATS in their last 22 games overall. The under is 9-2 in Pelicans last 11 overall. The under is 5-2 in Heat last 7 games as a favorite. The Pelicans are 2-8 ATS in the last 10 meetings in Miami and 2-8 ATS in the last 10 meetings.
The New Orleans Pelicans are a club you should be looking to back a lot in the underdog role, as we did in their season opener. However, the Pels are also a fairly young team still and who knows how they’re going to respond playing an early game on Christmas. The Miami Heat had their chances to win on Wednesday despite the 22 turnovers, and I expect them to clean things up and come out with a better effort this time around. I’ll lay the reasonable chalk with the Heat, the more experienced team that’s at home.
