NBA: New Orleans Pelicans vs. Philadelphia 76ers Preview, Odds, Prediction

The New Orleans Pelicans travel to Philadelphia to meet the 76ers and post another win. The Pels indicate a rise in their form with solid performances over the last few weeks, and right now have two wins in a row. On the other side, the 76ers have posted subsequent wins and losses in the previous five events. Embiid is doing wonders on the court, and his last three games were an absolute stunner. This should be another chance for him to dominate and go over 30 points. Simply, the Process is unstoppable.

Preview

New Orleans Pelicans (18-28, +310) beat the Knicks on the road, and after that, the Pacers in Big Easy, 117-113. They faced Indiana without Brandon Ingram, who picked up an ankle injury, but that didn’t create a problem for their offense.

Josh Hart and Devonte Graham jumped in the first with 22 points and 10 boards, while Graham scored 25 buckets and had six assists. Jonas Valanciunas deserves to be credited for his contribution throughout the entire year. The Lithuanian center established himself as a very dangerous scorer and evolved his game to another level in that aspect of play. The big fella had 16 points with 12 boards and six assists against the Pacers.

The youngsters off the bench, Jaxson Hayes and Nickel Alexander-Walker had 14 points each and a very important role. Expect them to be even more involved with Ingram out because both have big talent.

Philadelphia 76ers (27-19, -400) beat the San Antonio Spurs two nights ago, 115-109 on the road, and is now back in the City of Brotherly Love. Embiid was a force that couldn’t be stopped in Texas, with 38 points, 12 boards, and six assists.

Overall, he’s been averaging unreal numbers lately. The Process scored 50 against the Magic, then 40 against the Clippers, and now 38. Previously he had 10 with 30+points performances in 11 events. After telling you all this, we strongly believe that Embiid needs to be among the top three favorites for the NBA MVP award. Anything else would be a massive injustice towards the 76ers’ center.

Head coach, Doc Rivers, has huge problems with absent and injured players, and he used only eight guys in San Antonio. Tyrese Maxey ended the match with 18 points, the same as Tobias Harris, who added 11 boards and five assists. The Turkish international, Furkan Korkmaz, contributed with 17, and right now, he might be an X-factor in Philly’s game.

Head to Head Games

The first meeting of the campaign was way back in October at the very beginning. The Pelicans hosted Philly and lost convincingly, 117-97. Embiid had 22 points, Harris 20 with 12 boards, and Maxey also had 20. Ingram led the Pels with 25, while Alexander-Walker scored 23, five more than Graham.

Prediction

We are giving the edge here to the home side, which has one unstoppable player right now. Embiid is too big of a task for the Pelicans’ defense (with all due respect to Valnciunas and Hayes), and he won’t be stopped. Also, not having Ingram is a massive blow for the visitors who have talented replacements, but none of them at his level of play. Go with the 76ers to cover a -8.5 spread.

Pick: Philadelphia wins -8.5

Here is the preview for the Hornets vs. Raptors game.