The Los Angeles Lakers pay a visit to the New Orleans Pelicans at the Smoothie King Center on Tuesday night.
The Los Angeles Lakers have been in great shape as they’ve won seven of their last 10 games overall, but they will be looking to bounce back in this one after having their three-game win streak halted by the Knicks in a 112-108 loss on Sunday. D’Angelo Russell led the team with 33 points and eight assists on 13 of 19 shooting, Anthony Davis added 17 points with 16 rebounds and four assists while Dennis Schroder and Austin Reaves scored 14 and 13 points respectively. As a team, the Lakers shot 48 percent from the field and 12 of 36 from the 3-point line which was enough to hang with the Knicks in a really close contest, until the Knicks went on a decisive 13-3 run early in the fourth quarter to pull away and escape in a tight finish.
Meanwhile, the New Orleans Pelicans have been in decent shape as they’ve split their last six games overall and they will be eager to build some momentum after blowing past the Trail Blazers in a 127-110 home win on Sunday. Trey Murphy drained a career-high nine 3-pointers to lead the team with 41 points on 13 of 20 shooting, CJ McCollum added 22 points while Herbert Jones chipped in with 16 points and seven assists. As a team, the Pelicans shot 50 percent from the field and 19 of 40 from the 3-point line as they stormed out of the gates with 42 points in the first quarter to take a double-digit lead and they didn’t take their foot off the gas until they were up by 39 points in the third quarter.
Looking at the betting trends, the Lakers are 4-0 ATS in their last four games following a loss, 17-5 ATS in their last 22 games against a team with a losing record and 7-3 ATS in their last 10 games overall. The Pelicans are 0-4 ATS in their last four games following a win and 3-7 ATS in their last 10 games overall.
Head to head, the under is 5-2 in the last seven meetings overall and the Lakers are 3-8 ATS in the last 11 meetings in New Orleans.
The Lakers are still shorthanded as LeBron James remains out, while the Pelicans are still missing Zion Williamson and Jose Alvarado. The Lakers are coming into this meeting with plenty of momentum and they will be delighted with their recent play despite coming up short to the Knicks in their last outing. The Pelicans were able to take down the slumping Trail Blazers thanks to a big game from Murphy, but they’re going to need everyone to step up against the Lakers who are playing some of their best basketball of the season. This is a tough one to pick, but I expect Davis to have a bounce-back performance after scoring just 17 points on Sunday, so I’ll lean towards the Lakers here.
AUTHOR: Peter Tran
