New Orleans Pelicans vs Miami Heat Prediction, 12/25/2020 NBA Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: New Orleans Pelicans vs Miami Heat

Date: Friday, December 25, 2020

Location: AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami, FL

TV: ESPN

Odds/Point Spread: New Orleans (+5.5)

The New Orleans Pelicans (1-0) travel to AmericanAirlines Arena on Friday where they'll meet the Miami Heat (0-1). The spread on this contest has Miami as 5.5-point favorites. The over/under has been set at 229.

The New Orleans Pelicans faced off with the Toronto Raptors and earned the victory with a final of 113-99 in their last contest. New Orleans ended the game having earned a 52.5% field goal percentage (42 of 80) and converted 19 out of their 42 3-point shots. At the free throw line, the Pelicans buried 10 of 20 shots for a rate of 50.0%. Pertaining to grabbing boards, they earned a total of 45 with 8 of them being offensive. They also dished out 30 assists for this game in addition to earning 13 steals and 7 blocked shots. With regard to the defense, New Orleans allowed the other team to go 42.7% from the floor on 38 of 89 shooting. Toronto earned 26 assists and had 10 steals in this game. Additionally, the Raptors had 35 boards (7 offensive, 28 defensive) and added 5 rejections. Toronto finished the contest at 75.0% from the charity stripe by converting 9 of 12 shots. They also converted 14 out of their 46 shots from downtown.

Brandon Ingram is someone who had an impact for this game. He notched 24 points on 10 out of 19 shooting. He played 37:20 mins played and snagged 9 rebounds. Ingram ended up shooting 52.6% from the floor and also dished out 11 assists. An additional guy that was a factor in the matchup for the Pelicans was Eric Bledsoe. He pulled down 2 rebounds and earned 6 dimes. He finished the contest at 50.0% from the floor for this contest by going 6-of-12 (18 points). In all, Bledsoe was on the hardwood for 34:27 minutes.

New Orleans gave up possession 16.4 times per contest and as a team committed 21.2 fouls on a nightly basis last season. As a unit, New Orleans pulled down 46.5 rebounds per game and racked up 1,932 dimes over the course of last season, which was 4th in basketball in terms of passing the rock. The Pelicans connected on 37.0% on shots beyond the perimeter (982 of 2,656) and 72.9% from the free throw line. They averaged 115.8 pts per contest (5th in the league) while hitting 46.5% from the floor. When they were on the defensive end, the Pelicans were able to force 14.5 turnovers every game and they drew 21.1 fouls. They surrendered 36.1% on three-point shots and they ranked 27th in the NBA in points per game allowed (117.1). The Pelicans defense allowed a field goal percentage of 46.5% (3,077 of 6,611) and they conceded 44.8 boards per contest as a squad. They were ranked 18th in basketball in giving up assists with 1,763 surrendered last year.

When they last stepped on the hardwood, the Miami Heat took a loss by a score of 113-107 when they played the Orlando Magic. The Heat pulled down 36 defensive rebounds and 7 offensive rebounds for a total of 43 in the game. They also turned away 2 attempts while recording 11 steals for this contest. The Magic had 19 fouls in the game which took the Heat to the charity stripe for a total of 19 tries. They were able to knock down 16 of the free throws for a rate of 84.2%. Regarding shots from downtown, Miami knocked down 7 of their 20 tries (35.0%). When the game finished, the Heat finished shooting 42 out of 83 from the floor which had them shooting 50.6%. The Heat allowed the Magic to knock down 42 out of 88 tries from the floor which had them shooting 47.7% for this contest. They shot 35.7% from beyond the perimeter by hitting 10 out of 28 and walked away from this one shooting 19 out of 30 from the free throw line (63.3%). Concerning team rebounding, Miami allowed Orlando to collect 41 in total (11 offensive).

Jimmy Butler ended up being a major contributor for the Heat in this game. He made 7 out of 15 for this contest for a field goal percentage of 46.7%, which earned him 19 points. Butler snagged 3 rebounds in his 35:42 minutes of playing time and had 7 assists for this game. Someone else that ended up being a major factor for Miami was Bam Adebayo. He totaled 25 points in his 34:41 mins on the hardwood by way of 11 out of 16 shooting for the contest. Adebayo finished going 68.8% from the field and also collecting 4 dimes and 11 boards.

The Heat were responsible for committing 20.6 fouls per contest while shooting 78.3% from the free throw line last season. They assisted teammates 25.9 times per contest (5th in basketball) and they lost possession via turnover 14.9 times per contest. Miami earned 8,179 points last season (112.0 per contest) and they collected 44.4 rebounds per contest. As an offense, the Heat shot 46.8% from the field, which was ranked 10th in the league. The Heat were ranked 10th in the league in points allowed per game with 109.1. They were able to force 14.0 turnovers on a nightly basis and allowed teams to shoot 44.8% from the floor (7th in the league). The Miami defense conceded 34.7% on shots from beyond the arc (956 of 2,753) and their opponents knocked down 78.3% of their shots from the charity stripe. They gave up 24.6 dimes and 42.5 boards per game, which ranked them 15th and 3rd in those categories on the defensive end.

Who will win tonight's NBA game against the spread?

Tony Sink's Pick: Take New Orleans (+5.5)

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