It hasn’t been the start the Pelicans envisioned after crashing the postseason party in the Western Conference last season. Healthy bodies are returning to the New Orleans lineup and that’s a good sign. A visit from LeBron James and the East-leading Cleveland Cavaliers isn’t.
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LOOK AHEAD
After a dreadful 1-11 start, history is not on the Pelicans side in terms of a playoff return. Not even a handful of teams in the modern era have come back from such a poor start to find their way to the postseason, so expecting New Orleans to do so in the Western Conference seems impossible. But considering that the Pelicans rarely turn the ball over, they have an opportunity to get this right. The return of two attacking guards like Tyreke Evans and Norris Cole will certainly help in both transition and drive-and-kick situations. And as Jrue Holiday gets healthier and is able to play more minutes, we should see an injection of the attacking capabilities that helped the Pelicans have one of the most successful offenses in the NBA last season. Despite Ish Smith doing a nice job of distributing the ball, nobody in the NBA is concerned with him taking over offensively. That lack of a lead-guard threat is allowing defenses to focus on other weapons – namely Anthony Davis, who is averaging 23.5 points and 10.5 rebounds, but still can't be asked to consistently decide games in New Orleans' favor on his own will.
INJURIES
For the first time all season, both Kyrie Irving and Iman Shumpert joined their teammates on the practice court. Irving is five months removed from surgery to repair a fractured left knee cap, and Shumpert is two months into rehabbing his surgically repaired right wrist. While getting on the court was a huge step for the Cavs’ intended starting backcourt, the club said neither player has been cleared for full-contact basketball activities yet.
Quincy Pondexter has yet to play as he recovers from off-season knee surgery and Kendrick Perkins is out until February with a pectoral strain. The Pelicans did get some good news on the injury front with the return of Evans and Cole to the lineup this week.
KEY MATCHUP
Anthony Davis came into this season being mentioned among a number of popular NBA MVP candidates, including Stephen Curry, James Harden and LeBron James. His numbers haven’t been too shabby either. He’s put up averages of 23.5 points, 10.7 rebounds and 2.8 blocks per game with a PER of 25.5. All of those numbers are exceptional for any player, but fans and analysts expected more from the New Orleans Pelicans this season. The team has gotten off to a 4-14 start and doesn’t seem to have an easy task digging out of this hole in the tough Western Conference. Timofey Mozgov and Tristan Thompson will have their hands full dealing with Davis both down low and on the perimeter. Thompson is the more mobile defender of the two and will likely see more minutes trying to defend Davis. The ability of Davis to play the entire court presents problems with how to scheme defensively, and the Cavs are unlikely to use Kevin Love or LeBron on him. If Cleveland plays a lot of zone that opens the court for Evans and Holiday to drive the lane and the Cavs were burned by the small-ball approach in a loss to Washington on Tuesday.
ANALYSIS AND ODDS PREDICTION
The Pelicans are starting to get some bodies back in the lineup and that’s a good sign for a turnaround to a disastrous start. If they can make a run to .500 remains to be seen, but they should at least be more competitive now that Evans and Cole have returned. Holliday is still on a minutes watch, so his effectiveness has been limited. But they still have Davis in the middle, and as long as the big guy is around, the Pels are hopeful. The Cavs have their own injury issues but they also have more depth to cover for the loss. LeBron is still the King and Kevin Love is having a nice season, but Mo Williams has been the man. Filling in at point for Irving, Williams has been superb in his return to Cleveland and is probably the team’s MVP. The Cavs’ trio of big men – Mozgov, Thompson and Anderson Varejao – will do enough to slow down Davis while LeBron, Love and J.R. Smith take care of the offense.
Cleveland 109, New Orleans 100
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BookMaker's live betting platform means you always have access to odds and lines to every sporting event. Click here and start wagering today! The game between the Cleveland Cavaliers and New Orleans Pelicans is scheduled for Friday, December 4, 2015, at 9:30 p.m. ET at Smoothie King Arena. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN.
