The Los Angeles Lakers are favored at home on Friday night, as they host the New Orleans Pelicans on ESPN. The Pelicans have been a bit of a disappointment so far this season, as they come into this game below .500 and out of a playoff spot. They will have a tough matchup on Friday against a Los Angeles team that is just a few games out of the top spot in the Western Conference. Let’s look at the matchup and NBA picks.
This NBA basketball game between the New Orleans Pelicans and Los Angeles Lakers will be held at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California at 10:30 p.m. ET on Friday, December 21, 2018. The game will be nationally televised on ESPN.
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Odds Analysis
The Lakers will be listed as home favorites in this contest. The Pelicans are in the midst of a four-game road trip, as they were at Milwaukee on Wednesday. New Orleans was just 6-9 ATS in their first 15 road games, with seven going over the total and eight going under. The Pelicans are averaging plenty of points, as they put up over 116 per game, but they are giving up more than 115 per contest.
New Orleans is led by Anthony Davis who is scoring 28 points per game and pulling down over 12 rebounds per contest. The Pelicans are fine when Davis and Jrue Holiday are on the court together, but they are awful when one of the two is off the court. Just how much of a difference does it make? The Pelicans have outscored teams by 12.8 points per 100 possessions with Davis and Holiday on the floor together. They have been outscored by nearly 13 points per 100 possessions when one of the two is off the floor.
The Lakers had had two days off since playing in Brooklyn on Tuesday. The Lakers are 6-8-1 ATS at home, with ten of those games going under and just four going over, with one push. They are averaging about 113 points per game and giving up about 111 per contest. The Lakers are hoping that guard Rajon Rondo will be ready to play soon. He recently started a rehab assignment with the South Bay Lakers.
Key Stat
New Orleans has done well in this series of late, winning six of the last ten and going 6-4 ATS. Five of the last ten have gone over, with five going under. The teams have not played since last March when the Pelicans won 128-125 at home. The teams have split their last ten in Los Angeles, with six of the ten going over the total.
Injury Report
The Pelicans may be without Julius Randle on Friday, as he has an ankle injury and New Orleans is still without Nikola Mirotic who is out indefinitely with an ankle injury.
The Lakers could get some players back on Friday, as Rondo might be ready to go by then and Brandon Ingram could possibly return from an ankle injury. It is unclear when Michael Beasley will return, as he has been out of the lineup due to personal reasons.
Free NBA ATS Picks
It is hard to trust either of these teams in this situation, as the Pelicans have a losing record on the road against the number and the Lakers have a losing mark at home against the spread. I think the better choice is to play the total. I know that the Lakers have been going under at lot at home, but Los Angeles doesn’t play much defense and the Pelicans are one of the worst defensive teams in the league. I can’t see anything other than a high scoring game on Friday, so I will go over the total.
NBA ATS Pick: Lakers 128, Pelicans 120
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