NBA: New Orleans Pelicans vs Los Angeles Lakers Pick and Predictions 11/02/2022

Game: 10:40 PM ET, Wednesday, November 2nd, 2022

Venue:  Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, California

Where to Watch: NBA League Pass

Pelicans: 4-2, 5th place Western Conference

Lakers: 1-5, 14th place Western Conference

DraftKings:  Point Spread: Pelicans -3; O/U 227

PointsBet: Point Spread: Pelicans -3; O/U 227.5

Fanduel: Point Spread: Pelicans -3; O/U 227.5

Pelicans: SG CJ McCollum, PG Devonte Graham, SF Trey Murphy III, PF Zion Williamson, C Jonas Valanciunas

Lakers: SG Kendrick Nunn, PG Patrick Beverley, SF Lonnie Walker IV, PF LeBron James, C Damian Jones.

A Western Conference battle of teams that are in injury flux.  The New Orleans Pelicans are a good, young, team with depth. They have already had Zion Williamson miss two games (he’s back at the moment) and leading scorer Brandon Ingram has missed 2 games and will miss more.  Not to mention last year’s sudden discovery of G/F Herbert Jones who is uniquely defensively talented … and Questionable with a sore knee.  Zion may have missed a couple of games but he sure didn’t lose a step.  His first game back was a 112-91 defeat of the Los Angeles Clippers where Zion had 21 pts, 12 rbs, and 7 asts!  That is a line that would help any team.  The Los Angeles Lakers did something in their last game that they have not done all season… They got a win.  It lifted them from the worst team in the league to a fraction above the worst team in the league (that worst team is the Rockets).  In that game the Lakers managed to shoot 13 of 30 from the 3-point line.  For a Laker team that is averaging 26.6% form 3… it helps to have 35% from 3 game every now and then. Still the lakers will have to watch Anthony Davis closely as even though he has begun to play again… he still has lingering soreness in his back.  The Lakers will also keep having to play Russell Westbrook since PG Dennis Schroeder is injured and PG Patrick Beverley tends to foul out whenever he plays big minutes.

The New Orleans Pelicans are a good team.  If everyone were healthy they would be a great team… but I mean everyone.  Brandon Ingram, Zion Williamson, Herbert Jones have all bounced either in or out of the lineup in just the first 6 games… while PG Kira Lewis Jr (a first round pick in 2020) has literally never played for the Pelicans in a regular season NBA game… we do not know anything about his NBA game.  If everyone made it out of the Mash unit at the same time… this squad could be the Southeast Warriors with stars at top and depth for days. The rock for this team is SFG CJ cCollum who came over from the Portland Trail Blazers at last season’s trade deadline… He is again authoring some great games and solid leadership for the Pelicans. CJ will be big in the Laker game as no single Laker is anywhere near as good a shooter…or a leader.

The Los Angeles Lakers finally got a win. They beat the Denver Nuggets 121 - 110!  A first win on the season… and also the last team to get the first win.  PF LeBron James had yet another GREAT statline of 26 pts, 6 rebs, and 8 asts… He is getting close to Kareem’s all time scoring record. Also C Anthony Davis had 23 pts and 15 rbs… exactly the sort of nightly production he can give this team if he is not out with injury. The eye opening shocker was the third star of the night…. MR Russell Westbrook was the one who secured the win by logging 18 pts, 8 rbs, and 8 asts!  Russell has had good production in other games… but this one was different because he shot 50% from 3 (2 of 4) and 50% from the field (6 of 12)... and shockingly 4 of 4 for 100% from the charity stripe!!!!  Russell gets a good shooting game and the Lakers seem unstoppable… which is sort of exactly why the Lakers should trade Russell to the Pacers for Buddy Hield and Myles Turner… If this team had shooters LeBron and AD can take them anywhere… when Russell regresses to his average in those categories the Lakers will go back to losing.

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NO: 4-2, 4-2 ATS, 5-1 O/U, 3-1 in road games.

LAL: 1-5, 1-5 ATS, 2-4 O/U, 1-2 in home games.

The Pelicans are 3rd in scoring with 118.5 points per game, 15th in rebounds with 44.7 per game, 6th in AST/TO ratio with 1.9, and 28th in blocks with 3.7.

The Lakers are 29th in scoring with 105.3 points per game, 6th in rebounds with 46.5 per game, 24th in AST/TO ratio with 1.6, and 14th in blocks with 5.3 per game.

Our prediction for Wednesday, November 2nd is….  Pelicans 120 - Lakers 102

The Lakers had better sit Anthony Davis as precaution for his back… because Zion Williamson is going to run right through him.  A 38 year old LeBron should not want to take those collisions either.  Zion will have a clear path to both the rim and free throws.  Plus Zion is such a good passer that when the Lakers adjust to close that lane… Jonas Valanciunas will get a heaping helping of dunks.

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Head to head 5 of 6 games have gone UNDER the last 3 seasons.

New Orleans is 2-1 ATS versus the Lakers in LA the last 3 seasons.

The Lakers are 5-14 ATS at home when the line is +3 to -3 the last 3 seasons.

Pelicans:  PF Zion Williamson.  Exactly because the Lakers do not have any combination of young and skilled bodies to put in front of him.  Zion will also want to be a real beast anytime he is playing against LeBron.

Lakers:  C Anthony Davis.  Anthony used to be the Pelicans star. Plain and simple he will want to show them that he is still great.  Problem is his back is still sore and he has to be careful.

Pelicans: Nate “Big Boy Ball” McMillan

Lakers: Darvin “yeah that’s me” Ham