New Orleans Pelicans vs Minnesota Timberwolves Prediction, 1/23/2021 NBA Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: New Orleans Pelicans vs Minnesota Timberwolves

Date: Saturday, January 23, 2021

Location: Target Center in Minneapolis, MN

TV: Fox Sports North

Odds/Point Spread: New Orleans (-7)

The New Orleans Pelicans (5-9) head to Target Center on Saturday where they'll meet the Minnesota Timberwolves (3-10). The spread on this matchup has New Orleans as 7-point favorites. The O/U has been set at 223.

The New Orleans Pelicans took the court against the Utah Jazz and went home with a loss by a final score of 129-118 in their last game. New Orleans ended the game having earned a 49.4% FG percentage (42 of 85) and knocked down 11 out of their 25 3-point shots. From the free throw line, the Pelicans made 23 of their 30 attempts for a percentage of 76.7%. In reference to grabbing rebounds, they earned 41 with 10 of them being of the offensive sort. They also recorded 27 assists in this game in addition to having 9 steals and 2 blocks. In the matter of defense, New Orleans let their opponent shoot 50.0% from the floor on 44 out of 88 shooting. Utah earned 27 dimes and had 8 steals in this contest. Furthurmore, the Jazz snagged 39 boards (8 offensive, 31 defensive) and earned 8 blocks. Utah finished the game shooting 96.0% at the charity stripe by burying 24 of their 25 tries. They also made 17 of 39 tries from beyond the perimeter.

Zion Williamson is one player who was a major contributor in this matchup. He walked away with 27 points on 9 out of 14 shooting. He saw the court for 34:26 minutes and collected 3 rebounds. Williamson went 64.3% from the field and also earned 2 assists. One more player that was a major factor in the matchup for the Pelicans was Brandon Ingram. He pulled down 2 boards and accounted for 2 assists. He walked away from this one shooting 57.1% from the floor for the game by hitting 8-of-14 (23 points). At the conclusion of this game, Ingram was on the court for 33:05 min.

New Orleans comes into this contest with a win-loss mark of 5-9 on the campaign. They have an average of 108.1 points per outing (23rd in the NBA) while shooting 46.7% from the floor. The Pelicans are hitting 33.4% on 3-point shots (139 of 416) and 71.9% from the charity stripe. As a team, New Orleans is grabbing 47.0 rebounds per contest and has accounted for 318 assists on the year, which has them ranked 23rd in the NBA in terms of passing the rock. They lose possession via turnover 15.8 times per contest and as a unit they are committing 17.5 personal fouls per game. Defensively, the Pelicans are forcing 14.1 turnovers per game and they draw 21.6 fouls. The Pelicans defense is allowing a shooting percentage of 45.9% (197 of 302) and they relinquish 40.8 rebounds per contest as a basketball team. They are currently ranked 25th in basketball in giving up assists to the opposition with 378 surrendered so far this year. They are giving up 38.2% on 3-point shots and they are 18th in basketball in PPG from their opponents (110.9).

When they last stepped on the hardwood, the Minnesota Timberwolves took a loss by a final score of 97-96 against the Orlando Magic. The Timberwolves recorded 35 defensive rebounds and 8 offensive boards for a total of 43 for the contest. They rejected 12 tries while getting 5 steals in this contest. The Magic earned 17 fouls for this game which took the Timberwolves to the charity stripe for a total of 14 attempts. They were able to bury 9 of the free throw tries for a percentage of 64.3%. Pertaining to shots from beyond the arc, Minnesota made 15 of their 35 tries (42.9%). Overall, the Timberwolves finished 36 out of 85 from the floor which had them at 42.4%. The Timberwolves permitted the Magic to knock down 36 out of their 92 tries from the floor which left them with a rate of 39.1% in this matchup. They finished 32.3% from three-point range by going 10 of 31 and walked away from this one shooting 15 of 21 from the free throw line (71.4%). When discussing rebounding, Minnesota allowed Orlando to pull down 48 in total (13 on the offensive glass).

D'Angelo Russell was important for the Timberwolves for the contest. He converted 7 of 17 in the game giving him a field goal percentage of 41.2%, which gave him 19 points. Russell had 2 rebounds in his 31:42 minutes of playing time and tallied 6 dimes for the game. One more player that ended up playing a role for Minnesota was Naz Reid. He notched 14 points in his 29:11 minutes on the hardwood via 5 out of 8 shooting for the matchup. Reid ended the game having shot 62.5% from the floor and also totaling 2 dimes and 3 boards.

Minnesota has a mark of 3-10 this season. When it comes to offensive execution, the Timberwolves are shooting 43.9% from the floor, which ranks them 26th in the league. Minnesota has totaled 1,388 points on the season (106.8 per contest) and they grab 44.5 rebounds per contest. They are dishing out assists 23.8 times per contest (21st in the league) and they are losing possession via turnover 15.1 times per game. The Timberwolves have committed 20.6 personal fouls per game and they connect on 74.3% from the charity stripe. The Timberwolves are ranked 27th in the NBA in PPG surrendered with 116.2. They relinquish 27.5 assists and 46.2 rebounds per contest, which is ranked 29th and 23rd in the league. The Minnesota defense concedes 37.2% on three-point shots (158 of 425) and their opponents are converting on 76.6% of their free throw shots. They are forcing their opponents into 14.5 turnovers per game and have allowed teams to shoot 47.6% from the floor (25th in the league).

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take New Orleans (-7)

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