New Orleans Pelicans vs Washington Wizards Prediction, 1/9/2023 Preview and Pick

Game: New Orleans Pelicans vs Washington Wizards

Date: Monday, January 9, 2023

Location: Capital One Arena in Washington, DC

TV: NBC Sports Washington

Odds/Point Spread: New Orleans (+2)

The Washington Wizards welcome the New Orleans Pelicans at Capital One Arena on Monday. Washington opens this game as 2-point favorites. The over/under comes in at 228.

The Pelicans played the Mavericks and took a loss by a final of 127-117 in their last game. In regard to personal fouls, the Pelicans ended up finishing with 25 and the Mavericks accumulated 24 personal fouls. They buried 13 of 29 shots from long range. Dallas walked away from this one shooting 78.9% at the free throw line by making 30 of 38 tries. Moreover, Dallas totaled 39 rebounds (5 offensive, 34 defensive) and added 4 rejections. Dallas dished out 23 dimes and had 5 steals in this game. Concerning defense, New Orleans allowed the other team to shoot 56.8% from the floor on 42 out of 74 shooting. They also recorded 26 assists for the contest in addition to forcing the opposition into 17 turnovers and having 14 steals. In the matter of hauling in boards, they earned 44 with 15 of them being offensive. When they shot from the charity stripe, the Pelicans converted 22 of 35 attempts for a rate of 62.9%. New Orleans ended having earned a 47.9% FG percentage (45 out of 94) and buried 5 of their 29 shots from beyond the arc.

Jonas Valanciunas is one guy who was a factor for the contest. He scored 25 points on 10 of 13 shooting. He played for 30 minutes and grabbed 10 boards. Valanciunas finished the game at 76.9% from the floor and also totaled 3 assists.

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New Orleans enters this game with a win-loss record of 24-16 this year. They average 117.1 points per outing (4th in the league) while connecting on 47.8% from the floor. The Pelicans are hitting 36.4% on shots from downtown (451 of 1,238) and 78.3% from the charity stripe. As a team, New Orleans is pulling down 45.6 rebounds per game and has tallied 1,044 assists on the campaign, which has them ranked 8th in the league in terms of passing the rock. They turn it over 15.4 times per game and as a team they commit 20.6 fouls on a nightly basis.

On defense, the Pelicans are forcing 15.8 turnovers per contest and they draw 21.3 fouls. They give up 34.1% on shots from distance while they are 14th in the league in PPG allowed (113.1). The Pelicans defense is allowing an opponent shooting percentage of 46.9% (1,654 of 3,526) and they surrender 41.8 boards per game as a unit. They are 18th in the league in giving up assists to the opposition with 1,010 conceded for the year.

For their last game, the Wizards went home defeated by a final of 127-110 against the Thunder. The Wizards were able to pull down 35 defensive rebounds and 11 offensive rebounds for a total of 46 in this game. They gave up possession of the ball 20 times, while getting 6 steals for the matchup. The Thunder committed 26 fouls in this game which got the Wizards to the free throw line for 36 attempts. They were able to make 27 of the free throw tries for a clip of 75.0%. Regarding three-point attempts, Washington made 7 of 24 attempts (29.2%). When the final whistle blew, the Wizards finished the game shooting 38 for 79 from the field which gave them a percentage of 48.1%. The Wizards permitted the Thunder to knock down 50 of their 98 attempts from the floor which left them shooting 51.0% in this contest. They finished 45.9% from behind the 3-point line by connecting on 17 out of 37 and ended up going 10 out of 14 from the free throw line (71.4%). In the matter of cleaning the glass, Washington allowed Oklahoma City to grab 41 in total (11 on the offensive side).

Kyle Kuzma ended up having an impact for the Wizards for this contest. He made 7 of 14 in the matchup giving him a field goal percentage of 50.0%, and accounted for 5 rebounds. Kuzma earned 23 points in his 37 mins of playing time and totaled 7 assists in this matchup.

Washington has a record of 17-23 so far this season. As an offensive unit, the Wizards are hitting on 48.1% from the floor, which ranks them 7th in the league. Washington has 4,483 pts this season (112.1 per game) and they collect 44.0 rebounds per game. They are assisting teammates 24.9 times per game (15th in the NBA) and they are turning it over 14.1 times per contest. The Wizards are committing 19.3 personal fouls per game and they shoot 77.0% from the charity stripe.

The Wizards on the defensive side of the court are 15th in the NBA in PPG allowed with 113.1. They are forcing 12.8 turnovers on a nightly basis and allow teams to shoot 46.2% from the floor (7th in the NBA). The Washington defense allows 36.4% on three-point shots (479 of 1,316) and their opposition makes 80.9% of their foul shots. They concede 23.9 dimes and 43.2 boards per contest, which is ranked 7th and 11th in the NBA.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Washington (-2)

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