NBA Basketball: Charlotte Hornets VS New Orleans Pelicans Pick and Predictions 03/23/2023

Game: 8:10 PM ET, Thursday, March 23rd, 2023

Venue: Smoothie King Center, New Orleans, Louisiana

TV:  NBA League Pass

Hornets: 23-50, 14th place Eastern Conference

Pelicans: 35-37, 12 place Western Conference

BetMGM:  Point Spread:  Pelicans -8.5, O/U 225.5

PointsBet: Point Spread:  Pelicans -8.5, O/U 226

Fanduel: Point Spread:  Pelicans -8, O/U 225.5

Hornets: PG Terry Rozier, SG Kelly Oubre JR, SF Gordon Hayward, PF PJ Washington, C Nick Richards

Pelicans: PG CJ McCollum, SG Trey Murphy III, SF Brandon Ingram, PF Herbert Jones, C Jonas Valanciunas

An inter conference battle of nobodies… EXCEPT we all knew the Hornets would be nobodies, but most of us thought the Pelicans would be playoff darlings again.  This will be the most ignored game of the night… ESPN won’t lead with any clips unless something controversial happens.  Both of these teams have been clipped by injury this season.  For the Hornets PG LaMelo Ball went down and stayed down. The basketball world is holding it’s breath over whether the former ROY will regain his previous form OR if he will go down the road of his older brother Lonzo and simply fade away?.. The New Orleans Pelicans for the fourth season in a row saw PF Zion Williamson go down and not return.  The whole basketball world is done holding their breath on him.  At this point Zion is simply in the Greg Oden category.  A great player when he plays, but the Pelicans can never again put him at the center of their plans for a winning team… They must build a squad as if Zion never plays for them ever again.. And if or when he does they can treat is as whipped cream on a Sundae.  The great betting opportunity here is in the recent trends… specifically if the Hornets could cover 8 to 9 points on a spread?… or if it is hopeless?

The Charlotte Hornets have won 3 of their last 10 games.. That is actually a good 10 game stretch for this version of the Hornets.  They went 4-6 ATS during that run.  They actually won their last game against the “tanking” Indiana Pacers 115-109.  In the win the Hornets got 28 points from SG Kelly Oubre JR, 23 points & 9 assists from PG Terry Rozier, and 22 points from SF Gordon Hayward… and don’t forget C Nick Richards getting 14 points & 17 rebounds.. It was a pretty good showing for 4 players that should and will be on the trading block if they don’t outright expire this offseason.  The Hornets have been awful forever.  They have missed in practically every draft lottery they have participated in and now we hear they are losing their GOAT of an owner.  It is a sad time in Charlotte.

The New Orleans Pelicans have won 5 of their last 10 games and went 5-5 ATS.  The teams they beat during this stretch were Portland (lottery), Dallas (missing Luka and Kyrie), Portland (again), Houston (lottery, worst team in the West), and San Antonio (lottery, other worst team in the West).. So don’t be fooled by five wins. But you should notice that they covered a 13.5 point spread against the Spurs (as predicted here). In their last game they beat the Spurs 119-84. In that win they got 32 points from SF Brandon Ingram (as predicted here)... 19 points from C Jonas Valanciunas, 17 points from SG/SF Trey Murphy III.. The Pelicans have firepower and real high quality NBA players… but they will miss the playoffs and look longingly forward to the NBA Draft Lottery.

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Our prediction for Thursday, March 23rd is….  Pelicans 120 - Hornets 100

Bet on the Pelicans.  This is not a double digit spread.. So expect the Hornets to simply not cover it.  Yes, the Pelicans covered a huge spread against the Spurs because the Spurs could not play the Pelicans defensively… It will be the same with Charlotte.

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New Orleans is 24-10 ATS versus Charlotte since 1996.

Hornets: PG Terry Rozier.  Undersized and dynamic.  Terry Rozier has defied the odds and had a great career as a scorer despite his small stature.  However his future is as a sixth man for a Playoff team.. Not as the starter for a last place team. His scoring doesn’t overpower his defensive lapses anymore.  He is still wonderful to watch on the offensive end.

Pelicans: SF Brandon Ingram.  Ingram is the real deal but has been overshadowed by the presence of the perpetually injured PF Zion Williamson.  When they play a matchup against a team this bad defensively he usually pours in 30+ points.  Watch him do it.

Hornets: Steve “what am I doing here” Clifford

Pelicans: Willie “I wish it was last year” Green