NBA: New Orleans Pelicans VS Cleveland Cavaliers Pick and Predictions 01/16/2023

Game: 3:10 PM ET,  Monday, January 16th, 2023

Venue: Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, Cleveland, Ohio

TV:  NBA League Pass

Pelicans: 26-17, 3rd place Western Conference

Cavaliers: 27-17, 5th place Eastern Conference

BetMGM:  Point Spread:  Cavs -7.5, O/U 222.5

PointsBet: Point Spread: Cavs -7, O/U 222.5

Fanduel: Point Spread: Cavs -7, O/U 222

Pelicans: PF Naji Marshall, SF Trey Murphy III, C Jonas Valanciunas, SG CJ McCollum, PG Dyson Daniels

Cavaliers: PF Evan Mobley, SF Isaac Okoro, C Jarrett Allen, PG Darius Garland, SG Donovan Mitchell

An NBA interconference battle between two bona fide big dogs.  Two actual contenders… not one good and one taking team.  It’s these types of matchups that will be the most fun the rest of the season.  The New Orleans Pelicans have finally, after a long turn at the bottom, risen to the respectable status of contender.  The issue that will face them the rest of the year and into the postseason will of course be health.  And while we all know that health is the delicate balance that could lift or sink and NBA team… For the Pelicans who have the best, young, most frequently injured player in the league, in PF Zion Williamson.. Health will be everything.  Zion, when he plays, is already better than former Pelican Anthony Davis… Zion is probably the only player in the league that has missed more time than AD since AD forced his way out of New Orleans.   Yet even without Zion the team has learned to win at a good enough clip to be in the mix.  The Cleveland Cavaliers have found their star player.  The offseason trade for SG Donovan Mitchell is already paying dividends in the form of a true all-star scorer.  Yes, the Cavaliers gave up Lauri Markkanen only to see him increase his scoring and rebounding averages to all-star levels himself… but the trade worked for both teams.  Donovan has his team in the winners circle quite a bit… Donovan also has the highest scoring game in the league this year with a big time 71 points.. Not a bad night’s work.  The Great Betting Opportunity here is in deciding which players from which squads are likely to miss the game and how much they are worth to the outcome.

The New Orleans Pelicans are winners of 5 of their last 10 games.  The average result is pretty good actually since the team has been missing both star forwards in PF Zion Williamson and SF Brandon Ingram. Ingram is close to a return… while Zion has another 7-10 days to go.  They both will likely miss this one against Cleveland.  Most likely to return is Swiss Army Knife Herbert Jones.  Mr Jones can play either of the forward spots or either of the guard spots and he can play fantastic defense wherever he winds up.  The Pels won their last game against the Detroit Pistons 116-110.  In the win C JOnas Valanciunas controlled the game with 33 points, 16 rebounds, and 3 assists. SF Naji Marshall continued to be a revelation at the SF position with 17 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists.  Naji is another example of the Pelicans ability to find undiscovered gems among the undrafted or… In his last 6 games as the “fill-in” for Brandon Ingram… he has scored 16, 23, 24, 18,18, and 17.  The Pelicans will get calls for him at the trade deadline especially when Ingram takes his spot back… and if that doesn’t work other teams will sign him once he hits RFA and force the Pels to make a decision.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have also gone .500 recently by winning 5 of their last 10 games. They lost their last one to the Minnesota Timberwolves 110-102 which was also a loss ATS obviously.  In the loss SG Donovan Mitchell shot the ball poorly and finished with only 14 points on 5 of 16 from the field and 2 of 9 from beyond the arc. C Jarrett Allen and PF Evan Mobley both did their part by getting 19 points & 8 rebounds each… but with PG Darius Garland only dropping 15 points… The backcourt simply did not live up to their growing reputation.  The great news for the Cavs is that PF Kevin Love’s BIG contract expires this year… that will make him valuable to the team either at the trade deadline or just as coming cap space.  If they are smart they will package Love and his expiring 28 million with Rubio and his 8 million and ship them both out to a team looking to trim salary… Warriors?... Clippers?

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NOP: 26-17, 22-21 ATS, 25-18 O/U, 9-12 in road games.

CLE: 27-17, 21-20-3 ATS, 21-23 O/U, 18-4 in home games.

The Pelicans are 4th in scoring with 117.3 per game, 6th in rebounds with 45.3 per game, 18th in AST/TO ratio with 1.7, 21st in blocks with 4.4 per game.

The Cavaliers are 26th in scoring with 111.5 per game, 20th in rebounds with 42.5 per game, 23rd in AST/TO ratio with 1.7 per game, and 26th in blocks with 4.0

Our prediction for Monday, January 16th is…. Cavaliers 118 - Pelicans 100

Bet on the Cavs.  The Cavs are at home and have had 3 days of rest.  The combo will cause Donovan to instantly lift out of last games shooting slump.  Also the Cavs combo of Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobly will be really effective against the Pelicans makeshift starting lineup.

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(will update)

Pelicans: SG CJ McCollum.  CJ immediately lifted this team to the next level when he arrived in trade last season.  His scoring punch and veteran leadership has completed this team in a perfect way.  He will have to have big games until Ingram and Zion return… but he is capable of them.

Cavaliers: PG Darius Garland.  Darius was the MOST important player on the Cavs last season.  He controlled the ball and took lots of shots.  With Donovan in the fold… Darius has faded into the background a bit. He needs to stay aggressive.  He needs to force himself into the Robin role if Donovan is now Batman… he can’t be content as the 3rd or 4th option after spending last season as the lead dog.

Pelicans: Willie “He Ready” Green

Cavaliers: JB “Let’s keep rolling” Bickerstaff