Houston at New Orleans
Time: 7 PM CST (NBA TV)
Spread: HOU -4.5
Total: 230.5
Odds c/o 5dimes
NEW ORLEANS NEWS & NOTES:
The New Orleans Pelicans are just 10-23, New Orleans has had some injury issues, or one major one anyway: Zion Williamson, the No. 1 pick in the 2019 draft, has yet to play this season. Even without him, and with a losing record, the Pelicans have quite a few reasons to be encouraged.
Paramount in those “encouraging aspects” is one Brandon Ingram. He has nearly doubled his scoring average as a Pelican, showing all of the promises he was initially thought to have when the L.A. Lakers selected him No. 2 overall. Ingram is averaging 24.9 points, 6.9 rebounds, 4.0 assists, and 1.7 blocks/steals, and those notions of a “Next Kevin Durant,” no longer look absurd as they did during his tenure as a Laker.
Jrue Holiday has quietly been sensational, as well. He is averaging 19.3 points per game, five rebounds and 2.7 steals/blocks, making his biggest impact on the defensive end but still (clearly) scoring the ball just fine. JJ Redick stepped up with Josh Hart out due to injury, but now that Hart has returned, expect Redick’s role to recede at least a little.
Hart has been a big threat on the boards at just 6’4”, averaging 6.2 rebounds per game to go with his 11.2 points per game.
Lonzo Ball has also been plenty of encouraging and exciting. He is averaging 10.6 points and 5.6 assists per game and his 2.4 A/TO ratio is solid. The Pelicans could be a major threat if Williamson returns healthy and clicking on all cylinders— the rookie looked great in the preseason, even if there is already a black cloud lingering over his career, in terms of health.
HOUSTON NEWS & NOTES:
The Houston Rockets have won six of its last eight to arrive at 21-10 and the No. 3 spot in the West thus far.
Superstar guard James Harden is averaging a silly 38.6 points per game on the season with 7.4 assists to his credit as well. He is connecting on 36 percent of his threes and 45 percent of his field goals while turning it over an “almost excusable” 4.8 times per game. It is excusable simply because Harden produces so much that it is a mere corollary of the ball being in his hands most of the time.
Westbrook has fared well as a Rocket, though. He is shooting 43 percent from the floor while posting per-game averages of 23.9 points, 8 rebounds, 7.2 assists, and 2.0 blocks/steals in 35 minutes a night. The Rockets thus far appear to have great chemistry, which was something that was both developed quickly and unexpected by many naysayers and pundits who mostly felt that Harden and Westbrook would be unable to share the ball well together. Due to the fact that both rely on having the ball in their hands to create offense, it remains to be seen how long and how well this pairing of Westbrook and Harden works.
The pair once was together in OKC, but neither is used to the role they respectively played during that time. Westbrook has averaged eight assists per game over the last two, and his minutes seem to be locked in at 33 to 35 per game, which should take some of the load off of it, in the name of the ever-present “load management.”
The Rockets have also got more offense out of center Clint Capela this season. He is averaging 13.8 points, 14 rebounds and 2.9 blocks/steals per game. PJ Tucker has seen his role offensively increase, and he is taking advantage, averaging 9.3 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. Eric Gordon has seen his role change with Westbrook aboard, and he is not doing as much as he had in the past two seasons, either.
But then again, this is a Houston team that averages 120.2 points per game, so perhaps asking for more offense from any player at this point resembles nothing but greed.
