NBA: Boston Celtics vs. New Orleans Pelicans Preview, Odds, Prediction

The Boston Celtics are looking for a chance to win one match on the road after three straight defeats. Their task will be tough this Sunday night, as Brad Stevens’ boys travel to New Orleans to meet the Pelicans, who are also desperate to post a win and improve the morale of the team. The Pels have one win the past six games, and are slowly slipping in the Western Conference’s standings, getting away from the playoff zone. All this is guaranteeing an interesting match between two sides who simply have to win. Otherwise, their situation is only going to be worse.

Preview

Boston Celtics (15-14, -140) are coming to the Big Easy following three losses on the road, but with two wins in the past three events. During that span, they lost to Atlanta Hawks in the first of their back-to-back events, but after that managed to get even with Trae Young’s crew. Prior to both of those games, they were better than the visiting Denver Nuggets.

In the latest game against the Hawks, Cs posted a 121-109 win, with Kemba Walker finally playing one good game. He scored 29 points, while shooting 10-for-16 from the floor, with 6 games and five rebounds. With $40 million per year, he should have these kinds of games all the time, but the former Charlotte Hornets’ point guard is not consistent.

Boston was confident in this one, having a 27-point lead at one point, and scoring 66 points from the paint, which is 14 more than the rivals.

New Orleans Pelicans (12-17, +120) have just a win against the Memphis Grizzlies in the previous six matches. The most recent two were at Smoothie King Center, where they’ve lost against the Portland Trail Blazers and the Phoenix Suns, allowing 126 and 132 points respectively. At the moment, it appears that the Pelicans and the Mavericks have the worst defenses in the league. Even the Wizards look better in the past few matches.

As expected, Zion Williamson leads the way in scoring among the Pels, with 25 buckets per game, 1.4 more than Brandon Ingram who is right behind last year’s no.1 pick.

Ingram had a team-high against the Suns, with 25 points, while Zion scored 23, missing just three of his 11 shots from the field. Lonzo Ball was pretty inspired, racking a double-double with 21 buckets and 12 dimes, hitting six threes in 12 attempts. The eldest of Ball brothers was involved in some trade rumors, and we’ll see if that motivates him to play well in the future.

Head to Head

Pelicans won at home last season, 123-108, and lost in Boston, 14-105.

Prediction

The line for the total number of points is set at 233, and we are all in for Over in this case. Boston’s potent offense will drop at least 120 points, and the Pelicans themselves know to reach that figure. If you aren’t certain in our suggestion, we have another one for you—the Celtics to win, covering a -3.5 point spread. The Cs are looking better than the Pelicans, even though they, too aren’t shining too much.