Overview
The New Orleans Pelicans are in LA where they take on the Lakers. This was a series dominated by the Lakers not too long ago especially in LA where they won won 11 of 12 meetings from 2009-2013 but this is definitely not the same Lakers team of a couple years ago. The Pelicans have won the last 4 straight meetings including the last 2 played in LA.
Head to Head Trends
Road team is 25-10 ATS in the last 35 meetings.
Pelicans are 5-1 ATS in the last 6 meetings in Los Angeles.
LA Lakers (+8)
The LA Lakers are last in the Pacific division 40.5 games out of 1st place and they are also 21.5 games behind the Thunder for the final playoff spot in the West so they’re done for the season but I think we all knew that a long time ago now.
The Lakers are slightly below average on offense averaging 98.9 points per game but like most bad teams they are near the bottom of the league on defense allowing 104.7 points per game.
The Lakers have actually won 3 of their last 6 games but when you look a little closer you’ll know why. Two of those wins came against the Philadelphia 76ers and the other win came against the Minnesota Timber Wolves who are both even worse then the Lakers and it also took overtime for 2 of those wins so it’s not like they’re blowing teams out.
LA Lakers Trends
Lakers are 5-11-1 ATS in their last 17 vs. Western Conference.
Lakers are 0-4 ATS in their last 4 home games following a road trip of 7 or more days.
New Orleans Pelicans (-8)
The New Orleans Pelicans are last in the Southwest division 11 games out of 1st place but they are still an above .500 team with a 39-34 record. The Pelicans haven’t exactly been playing great ball of late with just 2 wins in their last 6 games but 3 of those 4 losses did come against top teams.
The Pelicans have an average offense scoring 99.4 points per game but unlike the Lakers the Pelicans also play decent defense allowing 98.6 points per game.
New Orleans Pelicans Trends
Pelicans are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 road games vs. a team with a losing home record.
Pelicans are 7-2 ATS in their last 9 vs. NBA Pacific.
Conclusion
I like the New Orleans Pelicans over the Lakers in this one. I usually don’t like laying this many points on a road team but the Lakers are super bad and it’s also their first game back after a long road trip so I don’t mind it as much in this situation.
Free Pick: New Orleans Pelicans -8
