Even before the injury bug administered an all-out assault on the roster, the New Orleans Pelicans were one of the bigger disappointments of the 2020-21 NBA betting season. With four-fifths of the starting lineup missing games recently, it looks as if the Pels have mailed it in losers in three of four heading into Sunday night’s road tilt against the woeful Houston Rockets. While the Brooklyn Nets went down in defeat to the Chicago Bulls on Easter Sunday, the team was down two members of the “Big Three.” Even so, the team could coast through its remaining regular season schedule and still lock up at worst the No. 3 seed in the top heavy Eastern Conference. With that, it’ll be tough to gauge the team’s interest heading into their first showdown with Zion and company; provided the former No. 1 draft pick returns from the thumb injury that forced him to miss a few games.
This non-conference skirmish is set to go down live on Wednesday, April 7, 2021. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. ET from the Barclays Center. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN. We'll have NBA odds available at BookMaker.eu for this and every game on Hump Day’s NBA slate.
NBA Betting Lines at BookMaker.eu
Odds Analysis
Sitting six-games under .500 and owners of a 22-26 ATS record at online sportsbooks, the Pelicans have a steep uphill climb ahead of them if they’re to return to the playoffs for the first time since the 2017-18 season. The odds of coming out on top of this one will be stacked against them considering how bad Stan Van Gundy’s troops have been when playing away from the Smoothie King Center. Even after going into Boston and Denver and coming out victorious in its two most recent road games, New Orleans still checks in 7-14 SU and 10-11 ATS as visitors. The Kings, Warriors, Grizzlies, Spurs and Mavericks are currently ahead of them in the pecking order for a No. 7 or No. 8 seed in the West. On the flipside, Brooklyn owns the second best record in the East and has won 20 of its 26 played games in front of its home based cardboard cutouts (12-14 ATS).
New Orleans Pelicans
Since rattling off back-to-back wins against the Mavericks and Celtics in Beantown, the Pels have dropped two in a row to the Magic and Hawks. New Orleans was forced to take to the hardwood without Zion, Brandon Ingram, Stephen Adams and Lonzo Ball in the embarrassing 126-103 defeat to Atlanta. The defense allowed Bojan Bogdanovic and the Hawks to drain 56 percent of their shots from the field which included a 13 of 29 showing from beyond the arc. New Orleans continues to stink the joint up at the defensive end of the court where it allows nearly 115 points per game (No. 27) and ranks third to last in defensive efficiency per the current Hollinger Ratings. Whether or not Harden returns, Brooklyn is going to have a field day!
Brooklyn Nets
The Nets just had their four-game win streak snapped in Chicago where the Bulls handed them a 115-107 outright defeat as 2.5-point underdogs per the closing NBA betting odds. Though seven players went off for double-digits in scoring with Kyrie Irving’s 24 points leading the way, the defense simply had no answer for Zach LaVine and company who went on to shoot a scorching hot 55 percent from the field. As efficient an offensive attack Brooklyn possesses with it scoring 116.3 points per 100 possessions to lead the league in efficiency, the defense continues to be the ultimate obstacle as to whether or not this edition of the Nets truly has what it takes to win it all. As it stands right now, Steve Nash’s troops are the +260 favs to cut down the Nets.
New Orleans vs. Brooklyn Prediction
With the availability of major difference makers for both rosters unknown at the time of this writing, it’s darn near close to impossible to get a handle on this matchup so early in the week. At full strength, I’d lean towards the Pelicans catching what’s likely to be a healthy serving of points. Though New Orleans has stunk it up from a win/loss perspective in the visitor’s role, it’s still just a single game under .500 against the spread overall. Make it a point to check the injury reports leading up till tip-off. If New Orleans gets its starters back, go ahead and take the points. If not, Irving might just take it upon himself to put on a show and lead the home team to the runaway win and cover.
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