New Orleans Pelicans vs Los Angeles Lakers Prediction, 12/7/2023 Preview and Pick

Game: New Orleans Pelicans vs Los Angeles Lakers

Date: Thursday, December 7, 2023

Location: T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV

TV: TNT

Odds/Point Spread: New Orleans (+3)

The Los Angeles Lakers (13-9) will compete against the New Orleans Pelicans (12-10) at T-Mobile Arena on Thursday in the semifinals of the In-Season Tournament. New Orleans opens this game as 3-point underdogs. The over/under is 229.5.

The Pelicans played the Kings and went home with a win by a final score of 127-117 in their last game. New Orleans walked away from the game having earned a 54.0% FG percentage (47 of 87) and made 14 out of their 31 3-pointers. From the free throw line, the Pelicans converted 19 of 23 shots for a percentage of 82.6%. Pertaining to rebounding, they compiled 42 with 13 of them being offensive. They also doled out 29 assists for the matchup in addition to forcing 13 turnovers and earning 12 steals. In the matter of defending, New Orleans allowed the other team to shoot 44.7% from the floor on 38 of 85 shooting. Sacramento dished out 29 dimes and had 8 steals in the game. Furthermore, Sacramento pulled down 38 rebounds (11 offensive, 27 defensive) and earned 7 blocked shots. Sacramento ended up going 81.8% at the charity stripe by knocking down 27 of 33 shots. They also made 14 of 41 shots from downtown. In the matter of personal fouls, the Pelicans ended up with 22 and the Kings racked up 18 personal fouls.

Brandon Ingram is one player who was a contributor in this contest. Ingram walked away from this one shooting 50.0% from the floor and also distributed 6 dimes. He played for 40 mins and also collected 8 boards. He scored 30 points on 10 out of 20 shooting.

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New Orleans will enter this game with a mark of 12-10 so far this year. They lose possession via turnover 13.8 times per contest and as a team are committing 20.2 personal fouls on a nightly basis. As a unit, New Orleans is grabbing 44.1 rebounds per game and has accounted for 575 assists so far this season, which ranks 2nd in the league in terms of passing the rock. The Pelicans are hitting 35.7% on shots from downtown (241 of 675) and 75.9% from the free throw line. They are averaging 114.6 pts per game (13th in basketball) while connecting on 48.1% from the field.

On the defensive end, the Pelicans are able to force 14.7 turnovers per game and they draw 20.8 fouls. They relinquish 33.4% on 3-point shots while they are 18th in the NBA in PPG from their opponents (113.4). The Pelicans defensively are giving up a shooting percentage of 46.4% (906 of 1,954) and they surrender 44.1 boards per game as a team. They currently rank 30th in the league in allowing assists to the opposition with 605 surrendered on the season.

The last time they took the court, the Lakers took home the win by a final score of 106-103 when they played the Suns. The Lakers were able to snag 24 defensive rebounds and 21 offensive rebounds totaling 45 in this matchup. They gave up possession 9 times, while earning 11 steals for the contest. The Suns were called for 21 personal fouls for this game which took the Lakers to the charity stripe for 25 shots. They were able to knock down 21 of the free throw tries for a clip of 84.0%. Concerning shots from distance, Los Angeles converted 9 of 30 attempts (30.0%). When the final whistle blew, the Lakers shot 38 for 102 from the field which had them shooting 37.3%. The Lakers allowed the Suns to knock down 37 of their 75 attempts from the field which left them with a shooting percentage of 49.3% for the contest. They finished shooting 48.0% from downtown by going 12 out of 25 and finished the game at 17 of 21 from the free throw line (81.0%). When discussing team rebounding, Los Angeles permitted Phoenix to get 44 in total (8 on the offensive glass).

LeBron James was important for the Lakers in this game. James earned 31 points in his 40 minutes of playing time and had 11 dimes in this game. He buried 12 out of 25 for the matchup for a rate of 48.0%, and had 8 rebounds.

Los Angeles has a record of 13-9 for the campaign. On the offensive side of the ball, the Lakers are connecting on 48.1% from the field, which has them ranked 7th in basketball. Los Angeles has scored 2,469 points for the year (112.2 per game) and they collect 44.1 rebounds per contest. Their rate of earning assists is at 26.1 times per contest (12th in the league) and they turn it over 14.6 times per game. The Lakers are committing 17.4 fouls per game and they go 77.1% from the free throw line.

The Lakers on the defensive side of the court are 15th in the league in points allowed per game with 113.0. They are able to force 14.0 TO's every game and allow teams to shoot 45.7% from the field (8th in basketball). The Los Angeles defense allows 36.5% on three-point shots (304 of 832) and their opponents are making 77.1% of their foul shots. They concede 26.7 assists and 45.0 rebounds per contest, which is 20th and 25th in the NBA.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Los Angeles (-3)

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