Miami Heat (38-31) vs New Orleans Pelicans (42-27)
Game Info: Friday, March 22, 2024 at 8:00 pm (Kaseya Center)
Betting Odds: Miami Heat -1 -- Over/Under: 209.5 Click Here for the Latest Odds
The New Orleans Pelicans and Miami Heat meet Friday in NBA action at the Kaseya Center. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a Pelicans vs Heat prediction.
New Orleans Pelicans
The New Orleans Pelicans have been in great form as they've won seven of their last nine games overall and they will be hoping to arrest a three-game slide after getting thrashed by the Magic in a 121-106 road loss on Thursday. Trey Murphy led the team with 21 points on six of 10 shooting off the bench, Zion Williamson added 20 points with seven rebounds while CJ McCollum chipped in with 18 points. As a team, the Pelicans shot 53 percent from the field and six of 20 from the 3-point line as they jumped out to an early 12-point lead in the first quarter, but the lead didn't last long at all as the Pelicans were never in the contest after getting outscored by 72-47 in the second and third quarters combined to trail by as many as 21 points. The Pelicans will play against the Pistons and Thunder after this game.
Miami Heat
Meanwhile, the Miami Heat are slowly turning things around as they've won three of their past four games overall and they will be eager to keep it going after sneaking past the Cavaliers in a 107-104 road win on Wednesday. Jimmy Butler led the team with 30 points, five assists and four steals, Terry Rozier added 24 points on eight of 16 shooting whie Nikola Jovic chipped in with 14 points. As a team, the Heat shot 45 percent from the field and 13 of 36 from the 3-point line as they looked to be in trouble when they squandered an 11-point lead to trail by four points late in the fourth quarter, before they closed the final 2:04 on a 13-6 run to escape with the narrow road win.
Matchup/League Facts
- The Heat rank 30th in the league for blocks per game this season (3.4).
- The Heat rank 29th in the league for Q4 points per game this season (25.6).
- The Pelicans rank 1st in the league for opponent three-point percentage this season (34.6%).
- The Pelicans rank 1st in the league for Q2 opponent points per game this season (26.6).
Pelicans vs Heat prediction
The Pelicans are still missing a couple players with Matt Ryan and Brandon Ingram both listed on the injury report, while the Heat are still missing Tyler Herro, Kevin Love and Duncan Robinson. The Pelicans come into this meeting as the team in better form, but they've lost their last two games and could be without Ingram for this one, while the Heat have been able to keep their heads above water despite missing a bunch of role players. You can make an argument for either side here, but the Heat beat the Pelicans by 106-95 back on Feb 23 and I think we're going to see a similar result here with the Heat winning at home.
Peter’s Pick Miami -1
AUTHOR: Peter Tran
