Cleveland Cavaliers vs New Orleans Pelicans Prediction, 3/12/2021 NBA Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Cleveland Cavaliers vs New Orleans Pelicans

Date: Friday, March 12, 2021

Location: Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, LA

TV: Fox Sports New Orleans

Odds/Point Spread: Cleveland (+3.5)

The Cleveland Cavaliers (14-22) travel to Smoothie King Center on Friday where they'll meet the New Orleans Pelicans (15-21). The line on this game has New Orleans as 3.5-point favorites. The over/under is set at 227.

The Cleveland Cavaliers stepped onto the hardwood against the Indiana Pacers and ended up losing by a score of 114-111 in their last contest. Cleveland wrapped up the contest having earned a 51.8% field goal percentage (43 out of 83) and converted 11 out of their 28 3-point attempts. At the charity stripe, the Cavaliers made 14 of their 15 attempts for a percentage of 93.3%. In relation to rebounding, they compiled 43 with 11 of them being offensive. They also distributed 29 assists in the matchup as well as forcing 11 turnovers and earning 8 steals. In reference to the defense, Cleveland allowed the other team to shoot 56.6% from the field on 47 of 83 shooting. Indiana earned 27 dimes and had 18 steals for the matchup. Furthermore, Indiana grabbed 27 rebounds (4 offensive, 23 defensive) and had 1 block. Indiana ended up going 75.0% at the charity stripe by burying 12 of 16 attempts. They also knocked down 8 out of their 25 attempts from beyond the perimeter.

Collin Sexton is one guy who was a contributor in the game. He walked away with 32 points on 12 of 25 shooting. He played 43:26 mins played and grabbed 4 boards. Sexton finished shooting 48.0% from the field and also distributed 10 assists. An additional guy that came through in the matchup for the Cavaliers was Dean Wade. He collected 6 rebounds in 30:45 minutes on the basketball court. He finished shooting 66.7% from the field for the matchup by going 6-of-9 (17 points). When the time ran out, Wade had 2 assists.

Cleveland comes into this matchup with a mark of 14-22 for the year. The Cavaliers are shooting 34.6% on shots from 3-point land (341 of 986) and 72.5% from the charity stripe. They currently have an average of 104.6 pts per game (30th in the NBA) while connecting on 45.4% from the floor. They cough up possession 16.1 times per contest and as a unit they commit 19.3 fouls per game. As a unit, Cleveland is snagging 43.8 boards per game and is sitting with 848 dimes for the campaign, which ranks 21st in the league in terms of passing the rock. On defense, the Cavaliers are able to force 15.4 turnovers every game while drawing 20.1 personal fouls. They currently rank 15th in the NBA in giving up assists with 882 relinquished for the year. The Cavaliers defensively are giving up a FG percentage of 48.2% (554 of 725) and they surrender 42.6 boards per contest as a squad. They concede 39.8% on shots from downtown and they are ranked 15th in basketball in points per game allowed (112.1).

When they last stepped on the court, the New Orleans Pelicans took a loss by a final score of 103-93 when they faced the Miami Heat. The Pelicans snagged 29 defensive rebounds and 15 offensive rebounds for a total of 44 in this game. They gave up possession of the ball 12 times, while getting 5 steals in this game. The Heat earned 20 personal fouls in this game which got the Pelicans to the free throw line for a total of 20 shots. They were able to make 16 of the free throws for a percentage of 80.0%. When it comes to shooting from 3-point land, New Orleans buried 11 of 43 attempts (25.6%). Overall, the Pelicans ended up going 33 out of 84 from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 39.3%. The Pelicans allowed the Heat to bury 36 of 73 attempts from the field which gave them a rate of 49.3% in this matchup. They finished shooting 33.3% from downtown by going 10 of 30 and ended up shooting 21 of 25 at the charity stripe (84.0%). When discussing team rebounding, New Orleans allowed Miami to grab 41 in total (5 on the offensive side).

Brandon Ingram pitched in for the Pelicans for the contest. He knocked down 6 of 12 for this contest for a field goal rate of 50.0%, and accounted for 5 rebounds. Ingram had 17 points in his 32:25 minutes on the court and added 9 assists in this matchup. An additional guy that was pivotal for New Orleans was Steven Adams. He came away with 1 assist in his 25:15 mins on the hardwood, and he shot 6 of 7 from the floor. Adams ended the game having shot 85.7% from the floor as well as collecting 15 points and 5 boards.

New Orleans has a mark of 15-21 for the season. New Orleans has earned 4,157 points for the campaign (115.5 per contest) and they pull down 46.1 boards per contest. The Pelicans have committed 17.5 fouls every game and they go 73.2% from the free throw line. As an offensive team, the Pelicans are shooting 48.4% from the field, which has them ranked 5th in the league. They are assisting teammates 25.6 times per contest (12th in the league) and they are losing possession via turnover 13.9 times per contest. The Pelicans on the defensive end are ranked 26th in the league in points given up per game with 115.9. They are forcing 13.1 turnovers on a nightly basis and have allowed teams to shoot 47.6% from the floor (26th in the league). The New Orleans defense gives up 39.3% on 3-point shots (560 of 1,424) and opponents are making 80.1% of their shots from the free throw line. They relinquish 27.7 assists and 40.7 boards per game, ranking them 29th and 1st in the league.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Cleveland (+3.5)

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