The New Orleans Pelicans will host the Atlanta Hawks on Monday night of the Week 5 of the NBA season, with high hopes of building on what they’ve managed to achieve over the past 10 days. The Hawks are losing most of the time, but they do require solid, 48 minutes of effort from their opponents. Will Davis and Cousins carry their team on their backs once again, or Schroder and the athletic wings of the Hawks will bounce back from three straight L’s? Let’s find out.
Hawks at Pelicans
Spread: New Orleans -9.5 (-110) at BetDSI Sportsbook
Total: o/u 216.5 points (-110)
The Hawks get blown out in Washington
The wins have been scarce for the Atlanta Hawks this season, but they usually managed to stay in the game just like they did in their last game, played in nation’s capital, where they lost convincingly to the Wizards, 94-113. It was the third consecutive loss for the Hawks, who had won only once in the previous 10 games.
The Hawks started off fairly well, playing first quarter on par with the favored opponent. This was not a thrilling performance, as both sides struggled with turnovers and missed shot. Atlanta even managed to open up a 7-point lead at the midpoint of the second quarter, but couldn’t hold it for long and trailed by seven at the half. The deficit slowly grew in the second half, but they were still down single digits after three. Like so many times before, the Hawks couldn’t sustain it and the deficit ballooned to 20 in the next three minutes, and further later in the last period of play. They simply don’t play good enough of a defense to stay in games when their shots don’t fall, and this was the case here. The Hawks shot just 41 percent, and the main culprits were Schroder (2-of-16), Babbitt (2-of-8) and Taylor (2-of-8). They wasted good outside shooting night of Belinelli, Delaney, and Prince, who combined to shoot 11-of-17 from beyond the arc. The Hawks actually connected on a higher percentage of the three-point than two-point attempts. They also coughed up 24 balls for the game, and allowed the Wizards to shoot almost 54 percent, so there wasn’t much to love in this game.
The Hawks got backup guard Delaney back, but Muscala and Ilyasova did not play. There are no updates on their availability for this game, but Muscala should be close to returning. The Hawks are very thin up front anyway, but especially if you consider whom they are playing next, so they could use any help they can get in the middle.
Place: Smoothie King Center, New Orleans, Louisiana
Date/Time: Monday, November 13th, 2017. 8:00 PM ET
TV Coverage: FSNO, FSSE
The Pelicans defeat L.A. Clippers on Saturday
The New Orleans Pelicans have built on a highly successful road trip by winning at home against the slumping L.A. Clippers, prevailing in a close game to win 111-103.
New Orleans shot 53.8 percent from the floor while Los Angeles shot 40.7 percent, but the game stayed close due to a large amount of turnovers and lack of outside shooting – two things that usually hold back the Pelicans. The main guilty parties were Cousins with 8 turnovers and Holiday with 7, but the big man made up for it in other segments of the game. Cousins scored 35 points and had 10 boards, and he got help from Anthony Davis (25 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists) and Moore (18 points, 9-of-12 FGs). After Los Angeles scored just two points during the first five minutes of the fourth quarter the Pelicans increased their lead to 94-84. However, Rivers made three 3-pointers and the Clippers closed within 103-99 with 2:49 remaining. Meanwhile, the Pelicans hit just 6 three-pointers in the entire game, four of which a courtesy from Cousins. They played some solid defense, but the Clippers mostly self-destructed by repeatedly looking for Griffin, who was outmatched by the Pelicans frontcourt. The game was played at a rather slow pace, as the both sides looked to settle in half-court sets.
The Pelicans were without veteran Tony Allen, who did not dress due to achy knees. He could return Monday, but more importantly, the Pelicans could get Rajon Rondo back. He’s a double-edged sword, but considering how bad Holiday was, it’s hard to imagine that Rondo won’t provide some relief.
Atlanta Hawks at New Orleans Pelicans Game Trends & Prediction
The Atlanta Hawks are 2-11 SU and 5-7-1 ATS overall. They played a vast majority of their games away from home, due to some renovations to their Philips Arena. On the road, they are 3-5-1 against the spread. The Hawks are no doubt bad. They score 102.5 points per game and give up 110.8, so it’s not like that they are bad only on one side of the court. This inconsistency led to fairly unpredictable outcomes when it comes down to total points betting. Overall, the Hawks are 7-5 against the O/U, 4-4 away from home. The recent over trend was also stopped in the last game, so the books have probably caught up with their form.
The Pelicans are on the high, winning their last 5 games against the spread (one SU loss, but a cover). Somehow, they failed to impress during the stretch, as each cover was just barely in – the largest ATS margin was in Indiana, where they’ve beaten the spread by 3.5 points. With poor opposition and small sample, there was a bit of luck involved too. The Pelicans are 7-6 this season, but are winning by just 0.4 points on average. On the total points market, they are 6-7 this season, with no significant recent trends whatsoever.
Admi-Rank: I’m not overly impressed by New Orleans and have them placed as a below average team despite the slight uptick in form. The Hawks have maintained the same level for the last two weeks, playing fairly consistently, for a bad team.
While the Pelicans aren’t playing great, and are managing to win over some poor teams on the sheer individual talent of their prized frontcourt duo, winning will do good for their confidence and they are in a much better position mentally than the Hawks, who can only wonder what they could do to win more games. The teams’ news are also better for the home side, and then there’s the home court advantage, as minor as it is. The biggest advantage for the Pelicans is that the Hawks can’t match up with Davis and Cousins. Their biggest fear – the Hawks hit their outside shots and gain confidence as the game goes on.
The Pelicans are constantly overrated so I’m not surprised to have them as a big favorite, but since all the signs point towards their victory, I’m left wondering if 9.5 points is enough. When this is the case, I’m inclined to pass on. Instead, I’m looking for the total points here, having it placed at 216, and I’m going over it. The teams are so different that I can’t see them stopping each other at all. The Hawks are also looking to push the tempo and the Pelicans are happy to accept such games as long as they score points themselves. Go with the plus points and enjoy this entertaining game without worrying about who wins it. Let’s have this go into overtime.
My Pick: (no spread wager here)
Total: Over 216 points (-110)
