The New Orleans Pelicans will travel to the Pepsi Center to square off against the Denver Nuggets. The game gets underway at 8:00 pm ET on Sunday, Dec. 20 and will air on ALT and FSN.
The Nuggets were beaten by the Jazz 97-88 on Friday. Jameer Nelson played well for Denver, contributing 15 points, six assists, and five rebounds. The Pelicans, meanwhile, are coming off a 104-88 loss to the Suns on Friday. Anthony Davis scored 16 points and recorded 12 rebounds earning his 16th double-double of the season.
This will be the second matchup of the season between these two teams. The Nuggets won the first game 115-98. Danilo Gallinari was the game’s leading scorer with 32 points.
The Nuggets are favored by a small one-point margin in their matchup against New Orleans. The teams combine to set the Over/Under (O/U) at 208 points. The Nuggets look to improve upon their records of 11-15 Straight Up (SU) and 12-12-2 Against The Spread (ATS). They have gone 8-12 SU and 10-9-1 ATS against teams from the Western Conference. Expect Denver to have lots of opportunities at the line against the Pelicans, who are one of the most foul-prone teams in the league with an average of 23.0 fouls per game.
Across the court, the Pelicans head into the game with records of 9-17 ATS and 7-19 SU. Most recently, New Orleans is a meager 3-7 ATS over the last 10 games. New Orleans is one of the top foul-shooting teams in the league, hitting .793 of their shots from the line.
The Nuggets’ win over New Orleans in their last game brought their SU record to 6-4 over the Pelicans in the last 10 games. Additionally, the Nuggets lead the matchup ATS with a record of 6-4.
Predictions: SU Winner – Den, ATS Winner – Den, O/U – Over
Notes
Denver is 5-2 SU in its last 7 games.
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Denver’s last 7 games.
Denver is 5-10 SU in its last 15 games.
Denver is 2-5 SU in its last 7 games at home.
Denver is 2-4-1 ATS in its last 7 games at home.
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Denver’s last 7 games at home.
Denver is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing New Orleans.
Denver is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games when playing at home against New Orleans.
New Orleans is 1-6 SU in its last 7 games when playing on the road against Denver.
On average, New Orleans scores 101.2 points per game (ranked 16th). Denver ranks 20th in points allowed per game with 102.4.
New Orleans ranks 24th in points per away game with 96.1 points, while Denver ranks 21st in points allowed at home with 102.5.
The New Orleans Pelicans have a split 2-2 record when they limit their opponents to fewer than 100 points. The Denver Nuggets have a winless 0-12 record this season when they score less than 100.
When allowing 100 or more points in a game, the Pelicans are just 5-17 this season. Denver is a formidable 11-3 when registering triple digits.
The Nuggets have a defensive rating of 104.8 (ranked 22nd), while the Pelicans rank 18th for their offensive rating of 101.8.
Denver has an average field goal percentage of 43.1%. New Orleans is a subpar 5-16 when opponents have a similar or higher field goal percentage.
On average, Denver attempts 23.0 three pointers and New Orleans attempts 24.0 per game. In games where the teams have 25 or more three point attempts, the Nuggets are even at 6-6 while the Pelicans have a poor 4-9 record.
The Denver Nuggets rank 17th with an assist to turnover ratio of 1.48. The New Orleans Pelicans have a higher A/TO (1.54), ranking 12th.
The Denver Nuggets rank fifth in offensive rebounding, while the New Orleans Pelicans rank 19th in defensive rebounding.
On average, Denver makes 7.6 steals per game. New Orleans is an abysmal 3-12 when it gives up at least 7 steals.
