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The New Orleans Pelicans will travel to take on the Charlotte Hornets in a Friday night NBA matchup at the Spectrum Center. With that said, it’s a good time to check out our NBA odds series, which includes a Pelicans-Hornets prediction and pick, laid out below.
New Orleans has begun their season with a dominant 130-108 victory over the Brooklyn Nets. A lot of things went right for this team, including having Zion Williamson healthy finally. Coming off a 36-46 record last season, there are tons of reasons for optimism around this team.
Charlotte also opened their season with a victory, defeating San Antonio by a convincing 129-102 margin. Charlotte went 43-39 last season, yet missed the playoffs after finishing tenth in the Eastern Conference. Once LaMelo Bell returns from his injury, this could be a lethal offense.
Here are the Pelicans-Hornets NBA odds, courtesy of FanDuel
NBA Odds: Pelicans-Hornets Odds
New Orleans Pelicans: -6.5 (-110)
Charlotte Hornets: +6.5 (-110)
Over: 228.5 (-110)
Under: 228.5 (-110)
Why The Pelicans Could Cover The Spread
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Zion Williamson is back, and that spells trouble for the rest of the league. In his first action in over a year, Williamson played 30 minutes, scoring 25 points, pulling down nine rebounds with three assists and four steals. Brandon Ingram was the star of the first game, scoring 28 points to go with seven rebounds and five assists. CJ McCollum also added 21 points and led the team with six assists. Trey Murphy put up sixteen points and secured nine rebounds in 24 minutes of play.
Jonas Valanciunas led the team with thirteen rebounds, including an impressive six offensive rebounds. Valanciunas added fifteen points. Larry Nance, Jr. also added an impressive nine rebounds off the bench. New Orleans pulled down 61 rebounds, including 21 offensive boards in the winning effort against Brooklyn. Most impressively, New Orleans shot 49 percent from the field, including 46.2 percent from behind the arc. New Orleans' defense was also impressive by holding Brooklyn to just 108 points.
Why The Hornets Could Cover The Spread
Charlotte won their opener despite missing LaMelo Ball, who is slated to miss at least the beginning part of the season. In his absence, seven Hornets scored in double digits during their victory. Terry Rozier led the team with 24 points, pulling down six rebounds while dishing out six assists. Rozier shot an impressive 57 percent from behind the arc, knocking down four from deep. Gordon Hayward added twenty points and five rebounds. Nick Richards managed a double-double, with nineteen points and ten rebounds, good for an impressive +28 when he was on the court.
Not a bad night when +28 is the team's third-best +/- number. In just 23 minutes, Kelly Oubre, Jr. scored 13 points with four rebounds and managed an insane +36 in his brief time on the court. New Orleans managed 26 assists on the night and pulled down 51 rebounds. The team shot 51 percent from the field, including a strong 45 percent from the three-point mark. Both PJ Washington and Mason Plumlee pulled down seven rebounds, which was tied for the second-highest in the game for Charlotte. In 21 minutes, Dennis Smith, Jr. scored twelve points on an impressive 71 percent shooting, adding four assists and two steals. Oubre, Jr. led the team with four steals.
Final Pelicans-Hornets Prediction & Pick
New Orleans with Zion looks to be a near-unstoppable force. Charlotte will surely miss LaMelo Ball in this one.
Final Pelicans-Hornets Prediction & Pick: New Orleans -6.5 (-110), over 228.5 (-110)
