Boston Celtics vs New Orleans Pelicans Prediction, 3/30/2024 Preview and Pick

Game: Boston Celtics vs New Orleans Pelicans

Date: Saturday, March 30, 2024

Location: Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, LA

TV: Bally Sports New Orleans

Odds/Point Spread: Boston (-7)

The New Orleans Pelicans (45-28) will try to defeat the Boston Celtics (57-16) at Smoothie King Center on Saturday. Boston is 7-point favorites. The over/under comes in at 224.

The Celtics played the Hawks and went home with a loss by a final score of 123-122 in their last game. Regarding fouls, the Celtics ended up with 15 and the Hawks accumulated 17 fouls. They knocked down 15 out of their 44 shots from distance. Atlanta walked away from this one shooting 60.0% when shooting free throws by knocking down 6 of 10 shots. In addition, Atlanta pulled down 53 rebounds (17 offensive, 36 defensive) and had 6 blocks. Atlanta recorded 24 assists and had 5 steals for this game. Regarding defense, Boston allowed the other team to shoot 49.0% from the field on 51 out of 104 shooting. They also recorded 28 assists for the contest while creating 11 turnovers and having 7 steals. When discussing grabbing boards, they compiled 43 with 9 of them being offensive. When they shot from the charity stripe, the Celtics converted 18 of their 21 shots for a percentage of 85.7%. Boston wrapped up the game with a 47.9% field goal percentage (45 out of 94) and converted 14 of 36 3-pointers.

Jayson Tatum is a guy who was a major factor in this contest. He notched 31 points on 9 out of 22 shooting. He played for 45 minutes and totaled 13 rebounds. Tatum ended up shooting 40.9% from the field and also distributed 6 assists.

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Boston steps onto the court with a win-loss mark of 57-16 so far this season. They are turning it over 12.0 times per contest and as a basketball team they commit 16.4 fouls on a nightly basis. As a unit, Boston is grabbing 46.4 boards per contest and has totaled 1,945 dimes for the campaign, which is 13th in the league in terms of passing. The Celtics are shooting 39.0% on three-point attempts (1,209 of 3,103) and 80.8% from the charity stripe. They currently have an average of 121.1 pts per contest (2nd in basketball) on 48.6% from the floor.

On the defensive end, the Celtics are able to force 11.9 turnovers per game while drawing 17.9 personal fouls. They are relinquishing 35.0% on shots from distance and they rank 6th in basketball in PPG allowed (109.8). The Celtics defensively are allowing a field goal percentage of 45.4% (3,042 of 6,697) and they relinquish 43.3 rebounds per game as a basketball team. They are 5th in the league in giving up assists to the opposition with 1,818 relinquished on the season.

In their last game, the Pelicans walked away with a victory by a final of 107-100 against the Bucks. Concerning rebounding, New Orleans allowed Milwaukee to snag 46 in total (5 on the offensive glass). They shot 35.9% from behind the 3-point line by going 14 out of 39 and finished the contest at 10 out of 19 from the free throw line (52.6%). The Pelicans allowed the Bucks to knock down 38 of 82 attempts from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 46.3% in this contest. At the conclusion of this game, the Pelicans shot 36 out of 91 from the floor which had them at 39.6%. Regarding shooting from beyond the arc, New Orleans converted 8 out of their 32 tries (25.0%). They were able to make 27 of those for a clip of 79.4%. The Bucks committed 25 personal fouls for the game which got the Pelicans to the free throw line for 34 tries. They also turned the ball over 6 times, while recording 11 steals in the game. The Pelicans earned 37 defensive boards and 11 offensive boards totaling 48 in this game.

Zion Williamson pitched in for the Pelicans for this game. He knocked down 9 out of 15 for the game for a field goal percentage of 60.0%, and had 5 rebounds. Williamson scored 28 points in his 33 minutes on the hardwood and totaled 2 assists in this matchup.

New Orleans has a mark of 45-28 on the season. The Pelicans have committed 18.7 personal fouls every game while shooting 76.8% from the free throw line. They are assisting teammates 27.0 times per game (11th in the league) and they turn the ball over 13.1 times per game. New Orleans has accounted for 8,436 points for the season (115.6 per game) and they snag 44.5 boards per game. On the offensive side of the court, the Pelicans are connecting on 48.8% from the field, which is ranked 8th in the NBA.

The Pelicans defensively are ranked 8th in basketball in points per game surrendered with 110.4. They are forcing 14.1 turnovers per game and have let teams shoot 46.0% from the field (5th in basketball). The New Orleans defense allows 34.5% on 3-point attempts (979 of 2,836) and opponents are knocking down 78.0% of their shots from the free throw line. They relinquish 26.5 dimes and 42.3 total rebounds per game, which is 13th and 8th in basketball.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Boston (-7)

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