New Orleans Pelicans vs Houston Rockets Prediction: The Pelicans are heavy-favorites

The NBA season is on and this has been a promising start to yet another alluring season to get us going. There have been some major developments and teams like Portland Trail Blazers and the Utah Jazz have sprung out of nowhere after being tabbed as teams that won’t be even making the Playoffs, especially the Utah Jazz. Anyway, in this game, we will see a New Orleans Pelicans that is still struggling take on a decimated Houston Rockets outfit.

New Orleans Pelicans

The Pelicans come into this after suffering a 95:106 defeat against the red-hot Portland Trail Blazers despite a 29 points outburst by Forward Zion Williamson. The Pels have started with six wins and six losses and frankly, with their set-up a 8-4 record makes more sense but the team has continuously lost close games, squandering away leads. This means that Pels’ coach Willie Green has his work cut-out in the early parts of the season. The team lacks a True Point Guard as the major ball-handler, and CJ McCollum running the point has forced the issue at times.

The pairing of Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram looks ominous in the frontcourt, while Ingram brings all-around scoring talent, Williamson is unstoppable in the low-post situations. The trouble is that the ball distribution for the Pels has been off many times and there is a lack of cutting and off-the-ball movement at times which stagnates the offensive strategies. The execution down the stretch especially needs big work but at this stage, there is no need to panic.

Houston Rockets

The Rockets come into this game after losing 109:116 to a short-handed Toronto Raptors despite a 21 points performance by Jalen Green. The Rockets have lost 10 out of their 12 games and one of the wins has been against a rebuilding squad, the Orlando Magic. They have looked a bit better than last season but are toothless in key situations and they lack the depth to even get anywhere near the Play-in tournament. The horrid start is to be expected from a rebuilding squad that is basically starting from scratch after the James Harden era.

Jalen Green has shown promise as a leading scorer but he is still young and remains highly inconsistent. Kevin Porter Jr. has increased his scoring but not by much and has been inefficient, however, his playmaking has remained stellar. Center Alperen Sengun is one of the most exciting young players who can become a nightly double-double threat in long-term. Rookie Jabari Smith Jr has indeed played like a rookie and despite abundant athleticism, his game lacks the polish to be effective at the NBA level. Rookie Tari Eeason has shown some promise while Kenyon Martin Jr. is having a career year but I believe the team still lacks that central figure to build around.

Injuries

• Rockets: OUT: Jae’Sean Tate, Bruno Fernando;
• Pelicans: OUT: Kira Lewis Jr., E.J. Lidell.

Player Props

• Expected Leading Scorers: Zion Williamson(25+ Points), Brandon Ingram(25+ Points), Jalen Green(20-24 Points);
• Expected Leading Rebounders: Jonas Valanciunas(11-15 Rebounds), Alperen Sengun(9-12 Rebounds), Zion Williamson(7-10 Rebounds);
• Expected Leading Playmakers: Kevin porter Jr.(7-10 Assists), CJ McCollum(6-9 Assists).

Expert Betting Tips

The Pelicans need to do much better in terms of keeping their focus late in the game and against quality teams, they have often struggled to stitch together big runs, which is holding them back as a squad. The Rockets usually stand no chance against big-time squads and they are often trailing by a lot. However, there have been some games where they have showcased tremendous grit. However, I don’t see that happening here against a physical Pelicans unit and expect them to win by 15+ Points. I believe the total points range here will be in 220-230.