Pelicans at Heat Prediction - NBA Picks 1/22/23

Miami Heat (25-22) vs New Orleans Pelicans (26-20)

Game Info: Sunday, January 22, 2023 at 3:30 pm (Miami-Dade Arena)

Betting Odds: Miami Heat -7.5 -- Over/Under: 222 Click Here for the Latest Odds

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The New Orleans Pelicans pay a visit to the Miami Heat at the FTX Arena on Sunday afternoon.

The New Orleans Pelicans have been in a slump as they’ve lost eight of their last 11 games overall and they will be hoping to snap a three-game skid after getting routed by the Magic in a 123-110 road loss on Friday. CJ McCollum led the team with 23 points and seven assists, Jonas Valanciunas added 20 points with 10 rebounds while Trey Murphy chipped in with 18 points on seven of nine shooting. As a team, the Pelicans shot 45 percent from the field and 10 of 35 from the 3-point line as they got off to a strong start and led for most of the game, until they went cold and scored just 19 points in the fourth quarter to allow the Magic to slip away in the end. Dyson Daniels had a night to forget as he finished scoreless on zero of six shooting in 31 minutes of action.

Meanwhile, the Miami Heat have been in fine form as they’ve won seven of their last 11 games overall, but they will be hoping to bounce back here after getting thrashed by the Mavericks in a 115-90 road loss on Friday. Victor Oladipo led the team in scoring with 20 points on nine of 12 shooting off the bench, Bam Adebayo added 18 points with 11 rebounds and four assists while Tyler Herro chipped in with 16 points. As a team, the Heat shot 47 percent from the field and just four of 20 from the 3-point line as they struggled to find their offense and scored just 19 points in the first quarter to fall behind by double-digits and things only got worse in the third quarter where they scored just 16 points to trail by as many as 30 points.

Looking at the betting trends, the Pelicans are 3-9 ATS in their last 12 road games, 0-7 ATS in their last seven games against a team with a winning record and 1-4 ATS in their last five games overall. The Heat are 5-1 ATS in their last six home games, 5-1 ATS in their last six games against a team with a winning record and 2-6-1 ATS in their last nine home games against a team with a losing road record.

Head to head, the under is 7-2 in the last nine meetings overall, the Pelicans are 0-4 ATS in the last four meetings in Miami and the Pelicans are 5-18 ATS in the last 23 meetings overall.

The Pelicans are again missing some key players as Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson are both still out, while the Heat are still missing Nikola Jovic and Duncan Robinson. The Pelicans have been mired in their worst slump of the season and their confidence took another hit after getting routed by the lowly Magic in their last outing. The Heat are coming into this meeting as the team in better form and I think we will see a response from them after getting embarrassed in their last outing. The Pelicans are only 5-18 ATS in the last 23 meetings overall and I think that trend continues here as the Heat get the win and cover.