Game Time: 10:10 PM ET, Sunday, February 27th, 2022 

Venue:  Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles California

Where to Watch:  ESPN

DraftKings:  Spread: Lakers -1.5

Fanduel:  Spread:  Lakers -2

VegasInsider:  Spread: 

WynnBet: Spread:  

Pelicans: 24-36, 12th place Western Conference

Lakers: 27-32, 9th place Western Conference

A Western Conference Battle of a team that is waiting for their star player to one day show up and play… and a team that is disappointing their star player every time they take the court.

  PF Zion Williamson was the straw that broke the Camel’s back in New Orleans.  That already bad team will be digging themselves out of a hole for years to come.  When Zion was taken with the #1 pick in the 2019 draft, he was heralded as the best player to enter the NBA since LeBron… or at least since Blake Griffin.  He was a powerful and powerfully skilled undersized power forward who made up for his lack of height with a big bruising body.  People made the obvious comparisons to Charles Barkley… and maybe he could have been that good.  We will never know now.  Zion has missed 2/3rds of the three seasons he has been in the league with injury… specifically lower body injuries like knee and foot.  The death of the big man starts at the knees and goes down to the foot.  Greg Oden and Yao Ming were destined for better places in NBA history until their lower bodies sent them to the scrap pile of distant memory.  The big problem with Zion’s health is his big body which serves him so well in dominating (and he did dominate when he played) other power forwards… simply carries too much weight.  My inside sources in New Orleans say that the last time he was with the team at all he was clearly several pounds above 280… He has not been with the team in a while.  Oh he still gets a paycheck, but out with injury and rehabbing on his own he is not even living in the State of louisiana.  Prior to this last round of injury Zion’s family had already expressed their disappointment in the rinky-dink NBA market of New Orleans… a place so small and poor that the local ad dollars are hard to come by… and the national exposure is great either.  Zion is done with the Pelicans.  He may be traded as an enticement to sign his extension… but a trade is the only way the Pelicans will get him to sign.  Also the return on a trade for a guy more likely to be Greg Oden than Charles barkley will be very small indeed.  

   Over at the lakers… LeBron James is the greatest player in NBA history.  He is the GOAT.  You can tell me about Michael Jordan all day long and his perfect 6-0 in the Finals and I’ll ask you to compare their records in first round playoff series, 2nd round playoff series, and conference finals… all of which LeBron dominates Michael.  If for a minute you think LeBron with the Heat or with Kyrie in Cleveland could not have beaten the Utah Jazz you are crazy… or the injured Lakers in the early 90’s?  Michael is great no doubt… but a time machine and a YMCA gym puts MJ and Bron together at 22 years old… I would pick Bron everytime.  Bron will finish with the most points of all time.. And at the top of several other lists.  He can and has played every position on the floor.  MJ played the bulk of his career where the defensive rules forced defenders into man to man coverage… Bron faced the constant double team of the legal zone… and at 36-37 years old MJ was golfing during one of his many breaks, and Bron was averaging 29 ppg, 8 rpg, and 6.5 apg.  Bron is the best ever.  Yet LeBron is on a Lakers team that has painted itself into a corner and can’t get out.  The trade for Anthony Davis from the Pelicans immediately worked; it brought a Championship!  AD has been injury prone since (as he was before).  Another big trade to bring in Russell Westbrook immediately failed.  The team has nothing left to give… no more young players… a few picks left in the cupboard.  They are stuck.  The Lakers two breakout stars playing alongside LeBron are SF/PF Stanley Johnson, a guy they signed off the unemployment line and rookie SG Austin Reeves who went undrafted in the 2021 draft and was also essentially signed off the street.  LeBron will have to put Championships aside for now and wait patiently for some of these all-time records to roll in.  He is the best but his team can’t play at his level.  Maybe AD will be healthy next season… maybe not.  Maybe they can sucker Orlando into taking Russell Westbrook for 5 or 6 of those reclamation projects they have languishing down there in Florida?  

The New Orleans Pelicans have won 6 of their last ten games.  They went 6-4 ATS during that stretch.  They added SG CJ McCollum to C Jonas Valanciunous and SF Brandon Ingram and the Pelicans have found a new ability to sneak up on teams and gut out a win.  In addition to PF Zion Williamson being Out forever… they are also missing PG Kira Lewis Jr to a season ending knee injury.  Kira was taken with the 13th pick in the 2020 draft and was expected to take over starting duties by the end of this year.  The Pelicans have many drafts and trades in their future… it could work out… Y'all have been watching the Bulls and Cavaliers redefine how quickly a team can get good… maybe New Orleans is a Zion trade away?

The Los Angeles Lakers have won only 3 of their last ten games.  They went 6-4 ATS during that stretch.  With 6 Overs and 4 Unders. They have been beaten by their in-house foe the Los Angeles Clippers twice in February alone.   LeBron has put in some big games during this stretch to no avail.  Much Maligned SG Russell Westbrook does lead the team in assists with 7.4 per game.  He just doesn’t fit with everybody… and Russ is a guy that has always played with his emotions on full display on his face… he knows the home crowd doesn’t cheer him.  He feels it.  He needs a new place to play.  A funny thing about Russ is that if he were willing to be a 6th man and paid a lot less money… pretty much every team would want him.  He does impact games.  As a starter though, the turnovers and poor shot selection destroyed every scrap of reputation he had left. The team does still have C Dwight Howard, SF Carmelo Anthony, and SF Trevor Ariza but they are afterthoughts.  Aged and outdated.

Al McMordie SWEPT THE BOARD in the NBA last night with the Charlotte Hornets over Toronto, and the San Antonio Spurs over Washington. Big Al's 74-55 his last 129 in Basketball, and is firing on his NBA Game of the Week today. It's out of a 93-54 ATS angle, so don't miss this extremely strong play. Go get it!... Don’t miss out! Get Big Al’s picks!   You can discover the best  picks right now at the Shop Picks page, where you can find all of the Best Bets from our champion sports handicappers. NCAAF, NFL, MLB, college football… get positive value from all your bets! Expert picks!  Fun fact… winning a wager is much better than making a wager!

The Pelicans are 24-36 on the season, but 29-30-1 ATS.  They have logged 23 Overs, 35 Unders, and 2 Push.

The Lakers are 27-32 on the season, but 26-33 ATS.  They have notched 32 Overs, 26 Unders, and 1 Push.  They are 18-14 in home games.

The Pelicans are 26th in scoring with 106.5 ppg, 11th in rebounds with 45.2 per game, and 17th in AST/TO ratio with 1.7.  On defense they rank 15th while allowing 109.4 ppg from opponents.

The Lakers are 11th in scoring with 110.8 ppg, 13th in rebounds with 44.8 per game, and 23rd in AST/TO ratio with 1.6.  They are terrible at defense at the moment.  They are ranked 24th while allowing 112.3 ppg.  

Our prediction for Sunday, February 27th is….  Pelicans 114 - Lakers 101

An outright win for the Pelicans.  Book it… take the points and win some $$$.  Local talk radio is out and out picking LeBron apart.  LeBron will approach the game with a disinterest we haven’t seen before.  He will be sending yet another message to the awful GM Rob Pelinka… “if I don't get your full effort you can’t get mine” .  Ingram and McCollum for the Pelicans will have a big game.

 (the quote is not a direct quote… just for effect)

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The Lakers are 22-36 ATS as a home favorite the last 2 seasons (-17.6 units)

New Orleans is 23-16 ATS versus the Lakers in LA since 1996.

New Orleans is 28 Under and 18 Over (+8.2 units on the Under) as an underdog.

Pelicans: PF Zion Williamson (foot) Out ** PG Kira Lewis Jr (knee) Out ** SF Larry Nance Jr (knee) Out

Lakers:  PF Anthony Davis (knee) Out ** SG Avery Bradley (knee) Out ** PG Kendrick Nunn (ankle) Out 

Pelicans: PF Jaxson Hayes, SF Brandon Ingram, C Jonas Valanciunas, SG CJ McCollum, PG Herbert Jones

Lakers: SF Trevor Ariza, PF LeBron James, C Dwight Howard, SG Russell Westbrook, SG Austin Reaves

Pelicans

Points: CJ McCollum 29 

Assists: Brandon Ingram 5.4

Rebounds: Jonas Valanciunas 11.6

Steals: Herbert Jones 1.5

Blocks: Jonas Valanciunas 0.9

Lakers

Points: LeBron James 28.9

Assists: Russell Westbrook 7.4

Rebounds: Anthony Davis 9.7

Steals: LeBron James 1.6

Blocks: Anthony Davis 2.3

Pelicans: Willie Green 

Lakers: Frank Vogel