The NBA regular season continues with games on Monday. The New Orleans Pelicans will hit the road and take on the Cleveland Cavaliers. It's time to continue our NBA odds series and make a Pelicans-Cavaliers prediction and pick.
These two teams have had very different starts to the season. The New Orleans Pelicans are 18-31 and have lost their last three games. While the Cleveland Cavaliers are 30-20 and have won three of their last four matches. This should be an interesting match up between two teams trending in different directions.
Here are the Pelicans-Cavaliers NBA odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
NBA Odds: Pelicans-Cavaliers Odds
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New Orleans Pelicans: +7.5 (-110)
Cleveland Cavaliers: -7.5 (-110)
Over: 210 (-110)
Under: 210 (-110)
Why The Pelicans Could Cover The Spread
The New Orleans Pelicans have had a very underwhelming year thus far. Through the first half of the season they have only managed to win 18 games and have lost a staggering 31. New Orleans is coming off three straight losses, with their most recent defeat coming at the hands of the Boston Celtics. This team has been riddle with injuries recently, but that is no excuse. If the Pelicans want to start turning things around they will need to come up with a win on Monday. The Cavs are a tough opponent, but New Orleans has the potential to come out ahead if they can just fill in the gaps from their last games.
The Pelicans struggled to stay competitive against Boston. At the end of the first half, New Orleans had only scored 34 points compared to 52 from Boston. Without some of their best players this Pelicans team has barely looked like a team. Their biggest issue was their lack of efficiency. New Orleans shot under 44% from the field and only 25% from beyond the arc. On top of that they made less than 74% of their free throw attempts. This team is putting up enough shots, but they just aren't making them. If the Pelicans want to start turning things around they need to step things up.
By far the biggest roadblock for New Orleans is injuries. The Pelicans currently have six players listed on their injury report. However, three of their most important players on the list are marked as questionable for Monday's match. Those players are Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart, and Jonas Valanciunas. Whether or not those three guys play will have a tremendous impact on the outcome of the game. If just BI plays the Pelicans chances of covering go up astronomically.
Why The Cavaliers Could Cover The Spread
The Cleveland Cavaliers have had a good year so far. Like every team in the league, they have had to struggle with injuries and COVID, however they seem to be over that for now. Through the first half of the season the Cavs have managed to win 30 games and lose only 20. They have won three of their last four games, however they are coming off a 10 point loss to the Detroit Pistons. That loss was unexpected for this Cavs team, but they will look to bounce back against another soft opponent. Cleveland has really shown that they can battle this season and will look to pick things up again on Monday.
Cleveland came up short against Detroit for two reasons, poor shot selection and poor free throw shooting. Both the Cavs and the Pistons made 46% of their shots last game, however the Pistons took 9 more shots than the Cavs. Additionally Cleveland only scored 46 points in the paint compared to 64 points from Detroit. This gap is indicative of the types of shots both teams were taking. On top of that, both teams shot 25 free throws and while Detroit made 21, Cleveland only made 16. If the Cavs can improve on these shortcomings they should have no problem against New Orleans.
While injuries and COVID have been major concerns for many teams in the league, the Cavs seem to be mostly in the clear. Cleveland currently has only three players listed on their injury report. None of those players have been new additions, so the team is used to playing without them already. The Cavs core is still intact and ready to start winning games again. Expect this Cleveland team to come into Monday ready for battle.
Final Pelicans-Cavaliers Prediction & Pick
The Cavaliers are definitely the better team here. What makes this pick difficult is the spread. Cleveland should win this game, but whether they will cover is another question. New Orleans has lost by 10 or more points in each of their last three games. If the three players on their team listed as questionable remain out then this is a no brainer. However, if one or all of those guys player this pick becomes more difficult. With things listed the way they currently are you need to side with the Cavs. Pick Cleveland to win and cover.
FINAL PELICANS-CAVALIERS PICK: Cleveland Cavaliers -7.5 (-110)
FINAL PELICANS-CAVALIERS SCORE PREDICTION: Cavaliers 108 – Pelicans 98
