The Washington Wizards invade the Smoothie King Center to take on the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday night.
The Washington Wizards have been in a bit of a rut as they’ve lost three of their past four games and they will be hoping to bounce back here after falling just short to the Hornets in a 109-103 home loss on Monday. Montrezl Harrell led the team in scoring with 24 points and 18 rebounds off the bench, Bradley Beal added 18 points with seven rebounds and nine assists, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 17 points while Kyle Kuzma chipped in with 11 points, 13 rebounds and five assists. As a team, the Wizards shot 38 percent from the field and nine of 36 from the 3-point line, but a slow start meant that they were always fighting an uphill battle after falling behind by 17 points. Spencer Dinwiddie had a night to forget as he scored just eight points on two of 11 shooting while Beal shot just five of 18 from the field.
Meanwhile, the New Orleans Pelicans have been struggling lately as they’ve lost 13 of their past 15 games and they will be hoping to avoid a third straight defeat after getting routed by the Timberwolves in a 110-96 home loss on Monday. Willy Hernangomez led the team in scoring with 19 points and 11 rebounds on eight of nine shooting, Nickeil Alexander-Walker added 14 points while Jonas Valanciunas and Josh Hart each scored 13 points. As a team, the Pelicans shot 42 percent from the field and six of 32 from the 3-point line but they were always fighting a losing battle after allowing the Timberwolves to outscore them by 38-21 in the second quarter. Brandon Ingram had rough night as he scored just nine points on two of 13 shooting from the field.
Looking at the betting trends, the Wizards are 1-4 ATS in their last five road games, 22-8-1 ATS in their last 31 games against a team with a losing record and 12-4-1 ATS in their last 17 games following a loss. The Pelicans are 1-5 ATS in their last six games following a loss of more than 10 points, 2-6 ATS in their last eight games against a team with a winning record and 1-4 ATS in their last five games overall.
Head to head, the under is 20-7 in the last 27 meetings overall the Wizards are 20-8 ATS in the last 28 meetings overall and the Wizards are 11-3 ATS in the last 14 meetings in New Orleans.
The Wizards have cooled off since their hot start to the season, but they’re still getting big games on a nightly basis out of Harrell and they weren’t far off in their narrow loss to the surging Hornets on Monday. The Pelicans haven’t had many positives at all this season and their confidence took another hit after getting routed by the Timberwolves in their last outing. The Wizards are 11-3 ATS in the last 14 meetings in New Orleans and I think that trend continues here as they get the much-needed win and cover here.