Game Time: 6:00 PM ET, Sunday, March 13th, 2022 

Venue:  Smoothie King Center, New Orleans, Louisiana

Where to Watch: NBA League Pass

DraftKings:  Spread:  Pelicans -5.5 O/U 230.5

Fanduel:  Spread:  Pelicans -6 O/U 232

BetMGM:  Spread:  Pelicans -5.5 O/U 230.5

Rockets: 17-50, 15th place (LAST) Western Conference

Pelicans: 27-40, 10th place Western Conference

A Western Conference battle between the worst of the year and the worst of the decade.  These two teams stink. The Rockets have been actively pushing their roster into losing by forcing the issue.  The Rockets often start guards at forward… the lack of defense and rebounding that are key to having a successful frontline isn’t even attempted.  The whole league… heck the whole world knows what Houston is currently doing.  They are trying to develop rookie SG Jalen Green and 2nd year SG/PG  AND lose games as they do.  The losing will supply value in the NBA draft which will add another player.. And they may actively be losing again.  It is a shame.  It is a sham.  The NBA more than any pro league in the US needs the concept of relegation.  They should expand the league by two teams and the bottom two teams every year should be jettisoned to the G-League… The G-League winner and runner up every year should be elevated back into the league.  That massive loss of cash would force owners to want to win games now… which is what the fans should be hoping for when they tune into a game.  Shame on Houston.  The Pelicans have been bad… they were bad when they had PF Anthony Davis playing with PG JRue Holiday… they remained bad when the drafted PF Zion Williamson (who rarely has played during the course of his 3 year career)... they made key mistakes like letting Lonzo Ball go for nothing of value in return… like swapping Centers with Memphis only to then watch Memphis blow up!  Only recently… something has changed.  The Pelicans are still a bad team lodged in 10th place in the East… but recently they have shown themselves to be more competitive.  The change has come with the arrival of SG CJ McCollum.  CJ is a high level shooter and scorer in the NBA who was billed as simply PG Damian Lilliard’s running mate when he was in Portland.  Maybe he was being held back a little?... Damian Lilliard is great… but maybe CJ has blossomed a bit in his first taste of being a team’s best player… his arrival may have also taken some of the pressure off of the team’s former best player: SF Brandon Ingram.  Ingram is a solid NBA player who simply is not a leader.. Not a lion.  Brandon plays his game without bragging or puffing out his chest… Brandon prefers small town America to when he lived in Los Angeles.  Brandon wants to play well but never seems to want the spotlight to hit him directly.

The Houston Rockets have only won 2 of their last ten games.  They are only 4-6 ATS with several of these spreads being very large.  They lost to the Miami Heat 123-106 and in the process lost against a 16.5 spread.  I know Miami is a good team, but for any NBA franchise to not be able to cover 16.5 points… That is just shameful.  The constant influx of teenagers and players playing out of position has created the worst defense in the NBA.  They are the type of defense that gives up 142 points to a Clippers team that did not have Kawhi of PG13… The one shocking thing this team did do was score 139 points against the Los Angeles Lakers in an overtime win that sent LeBron James, Jeannie Buss, “Agenty” the GM, and Frank Vogel into a world of embarrassed silence.  That Lakers game showed us a different side of this roster… a roster that scored 19 POINTS in overtime… Overtime is only 5 minutes! 

The New Orleans Pelicans have won 4 of their last ten games.  They went 4-6 ATS… the wins ATS coincide with the outright wins.  When this Pelicans team loses it LOSES.  They don’t threaten to cover spreads in the 4th quarter… when they are down they stay down.  The Numbers for this team are all over the place… medium on defense, bad at scoring, good at rebounding, bad at blocks, medium on turnovers… horrible on 3-point defense.  It’s up and down up and down.  The team had picked this up with the addition of CJ MCCollum… but that is all over now.  The two best Pelicans players CJ and Ingram have both landed on the injury list this week.  They will miss the Rockets game which may reduce this matchup to not much vs nothing special.  The saga of Zion Williamson still rages on.  The PF chose to rehab away from the team, the PF doesn’t call new teammates or check in with coaches beyond what is absolutely necessary.  He is either out with injury forever or he simply doesn’t want to return to the small market Pelicans.  I have heard both versions of this story from dueling insiders… Zion is either the next Greg Oden.. or the next Anthony Davis… and if he is the next Anthony Davis… Anthony Davis is kind of Greg Oden… huh?

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The Rockets are 17-50 on the season, but 27-39-1 ATS.  They have logged 37 Overs, 29 Unders, and 1 Push.  They are 7-28 in road games.

The Pelicans are 27-40 on the season, but 32-34-1 ATS.  They have notched 26 Overs, 39 Unders, and 2 Push.  They are 15-19 in home games

The Rockets are 18th in scoring with 108.9 ppg, 30th in rebounds with 42.1 per game, and 30th in AST/TO ratio.  On defense the Rockets rank 30th (LAST) in the NBA while allowing 118 ppg from opponents

Our prediction for Sunday, March 13th is…. Rockets 122 - Pelicans 118

The Rockets will win this one outright.  The five players on the Pelicans injury list… just happen to be the 5 best players on the Pelicans roster.  Sure, they have missed Zion and Kira Lewis all season… but adding CJ and Ingram and Larry Nance… means they literally have nothing to offer.  The Rockets at least have the plucky zest of youth… in what will be an even match.

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The Pelicans are 14-5 ATS after 2 consecutive home losses the last 3 seasons.
The Rockets are 3-13 ATS after a loss by 10 points or more the last 3 seasons.
7 of 10 games in this series have gone OVER the last 3 seasons.

Rockets: PF Christian Wood (illness) Out ** PG John Wall (holdout, by team) Out

Pelicans: CJ McCollum, Larry Nance JR, Brandon Ingram, Zion Williamson, Kira Lewis JR… all OUT

Rockets: PF Kenyon Martin Jr, SF Eric Gordon, C Alperen Sengun, SG Jalen Green, SG Kevin Porter Jr.

Pelicans: SF Najii Marshall, PF Jaxson Hayes, C Jonas Valanciunas, PG Devonte’ Graham, PG Herbert Jones

Rockets

Points: Christian Wood 17.9

Assists: Dennis Schroder 7.3

Rebounds: Christian Wood 10.1

Steals: Kevin Porter Jr 1.2

Blocks: Christian Wood 1.0

Pelicans

Points: CJ McCollum 27.1

Assists: CJ McCollum 6.7

Rebounds: Jonas Valanciunas 11.4

Steals: Herbert Jones 1.5

Blocks: Jonas Valanciunas 0.9

Rockets: Stephen Silas

Pelicans: Willie Green