The New Orleans Pelicans (26-17, 9-12 Away), one of the NBA’s top scoring teams, travel to face the Cleveland Cavaliers (27-17, 18-4 Home) on Monday. New Orleans topped the Detroit Pistons 116-110 at Little Caesars Arena on Friday.
Jonas Valanciunas was a top performer with 33 points, 16 rebounds, and three assists. The Pelicans are the third seed in the Western Conference. Cleveland dropped their last game on Saturday at Target Center, falling to the Minnesota Timberwolves 110-102.
Jarrett Allen had 19 points in the loss to lead the team. The Cavaliers are fourth in the Eastern Conference. The teams are meeting for the first time this season. New Orleans and Cleveland split their matchups last season, winning one game apiece.
The Cavaliers came out on top in the last meeting 93-90 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in January 2022. Brandon Goodwin led the Cavaliers with 21 points, while Allen was a key contributor with 16 points. Devonte’ Graham had 20 points in the loss. The Pels have been led this season by CJ McCollum, who is averaging 21.2 points per game.
McCollum also has dished 5.9 assists per game. Meanwhile, Valanciunas is grabbing 9.7 rebounds. Donovan Mitchell’s 28.8 points per game have powered the Cavs on offense. He has the eighth-highest scoring average in the league.
Darius Garland is tallying 7.7 assists per game, seventh-most in the NBA, and Allen is pulling down 9.8 rebounds per game. With 117.3 points per game, the Pelicans are one of the top scoring offenses in the NBA (4th).The Pelicans have come up short in recent visits to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, losing six of the last 10.
In the last 10 games, New Orleans is 5-5 with an average margin of -0.2 (115.8-116.0). Cleveland has also split the last 10 (5-5), allowing 114.2 points per game on average while scoring only 113.6 (-0.6 margin). The Cavaliers are averaging 111.5 ppg for the full season while allowing 107.0.
PELICANS HOT/COLD
(Last Five | Season Average | Differential)
Points + Rebounds + Assists:
Naji Marshall: 28.6 | 16.5 | +12.1
Larry Nance Jr.: 10.3 | 15.3 | -5.1
Points per game:
Naji Marshall: 20.0 | 10.4 | +9.6
Assists per game:
Jose Alvarado: 4.2 | 3.1 | +1.1
CAVALIERS HOT/COLD
(Last Five | Season Average | Differential)
Points + Rebounds + Assists:
Cedi Osman: 6.4 | 13.3 | -6.9
SportsTips’ NBA Pick:
Cleveland Cavaliers -7.5 (-105)
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*Odds correct at time of publication, courtesy of BetMGM.
