New Orleans at Minnesota
Time: 7 PM CT NBA LP
Spread: NOP -1.5
Total: 234.5
Odds c/o 5dimes
The New Orleans Pelicans are 20-22 on the season but just 5-16 on the road. It will travel to face Minnesota and it is 1.5-point favorites on the Timberwolves’ home court. Minnesota is 14-7 at home this season. The game will air at 7 PM (CT) on NBA League Pass and has an over/under set at 234.5 points by NBA oddsmakers at bookmaker 5dimes.
NOP
New Orleans has won its last three games, but still lingers out of the Western Conference playoff picture two games below .500 on the season. Patience is wearing thin in New Orleans, a team never able to perhaps maximize the immense talents of its superstar, Anthony Davis. Davis has been sensational, but while Jrue Holiday has had an outstanding season in his own right, this team seems several pieces shy of having what it takes to contend in the Western Conference. Because of that, a lot of blame has been assigned to Davis, whose eventual future may not be in the Bayou. The former Kentucky Wildcat is averaging 28.9 points, 13.2 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 1.8 steals, and 2.7 blocks per game while posting a PER of 31.3, but outside of Holiday and Randle this team just lacks some of the pieces it needs to compete with the top teams in the West.
Holiday is averaging 20.7 points and Julius Randle adds another 19.8. Nikola Mirotic has battled injuries but ideally completes a solid top-4. Where the Pelicans fall apart mostly is due to its lack of depth. After E’Twaun Moore, the rotation falls off to a number of players with glaring offensive deficiencies, from Elfrid Payton’s sheer lack of shooting to Tim Frazier’s inconsistencies, the Pelicans bench begins to relay the reasons this team cannot manage to sustain the strong play of its starting-5, bolstered, of course, by Davis.
A lot of the blame has fallen on GM Dell Demps and his numerous dubious decisions. While gambling on DeMarcus Cousins may have made enough sense at the time, the Pelicans really could use the player it dealt to obtain Cousins in Buddy Hield. New Orleans needs another premier perimeter threat, shooting, and it needs a “three and D” small forward (like Robert Covington?) in the worst way. Without adding these necessary pieces the Pels can still knock off mediocre teams like tonight’s opponent, but making any meaningful ascent will elude this roster.
MIN
The Minnesota Timberwolves have won three of its last four but lost its last game 115-119 to Luca Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks. The season story for Minnesota has largely been one of disappointment, beginning with having to deal superstar Jimmy Butler due to his discontent with the franchise. While Minnesota got a fair to decent return on Butler in a trade with Philadelphia, it subtracted unarguably the best two-way talent on the roster while also taking away any chance it had of keeping an All-Star veteran leader.
That task now falls to Karl Anthony Towns. Towns has quietly put together a very good season with his 22 points and 12 rebounds per game, but the Wolves have been colossally disappointed with former No. 1 overall pick Andrew Wiggins. Wiggins has now not only failed to defend, but he has also become much more of an “average” offensive threat at small forward. Averaging just 17.9 points per game, if Wiggins is not bringing his primary value as a scorer he is offering close to nowhere near his actual potential. Moreover, while Derrick Rose has turned in a superb season, Minnesota is not defending well. It averages 111.6 points per game but surrenders 111.1 per game which is good for just a plus-0.5 point differential. Minnesota never defended to the level it really should have, and without Butler, there is no one really vocal enough to chairman its defense.
