Cleveland Cavaliers vs New Orleans Pelicans Prediction, 3/13/2024 Preview and Pick

Game: Cleveland Cavaliers vs New Orleans Pelicans

Date: Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Location: Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, LA

TV: Bally Sports New Orleans

The Cleveland Cavaliers (41-24) are hitting the road to Smoothie King Center on Wednesday where they will meet the New Orleans Pelicans (39-25).

The Cavaliers stepped onto the hardwood against the Suns and took a loss by a final of 117-111 in their last contest. Cleveland wrapped up the contest with a 47.6% field goal percentage (40 out of 84) and converted 15 out of their 46 shots from beyond the perimeter. At the charity stripe, the Cavaliers knocked down 16 of their 19 attempts for a rate of 84.2%. Regarding grabbing rebounds, they collected a total of 37 with 10 of them being on the offensive end. They also doled out 30 dimes for this game while forcing the other team into 14 turnovers and earning 9 steals. In the matter of defense, Cleveland allowed the other team to go 54.8% from the field on 46 of 84 shooting. Phoenix doled out 23 dimes and had 8 steals for the matchup. On top of that, Phoenix snagged 42 boards (12 offensive, 30 defensive), but finished the game with no rejections. Phoenix shot 68.4% at the charity stripe by converting 13 of 19 tries. They buried 12 of 32 tries from three-point range. Regarding fouls, the Cavaliers finished with 18 while the Suns totaled 18 fouls.

Darius Garland is one guy who played a role for this contest. He notched 30 points on 10 out of 17 shooting. He was on the court for 36 minutes played and also snagged 2 rebounds. Garland finished shooting 58.8% from the floor and distributed 5 assists.

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Cleveland will take the court with a record of 41-24 this year. They are losing possession via turnover 13.4 times per contest and as a basketball team are committing 18.2 fouls every game. As a unit, Cleveland is grabbing 44.3 rebounds per contest and is sitting with 1,800 assists on the year, which has them ranked 10th in the NBA in terms of passing the ball. The Cavaliers are shooting 36.5% on three-point shots (884 of 2,422) and 76.3% from the free throw line. They average 113.7 pts per contest (18th in the league) while going 47.9% from the field.

On defense, the Cavaliers are forcing 13.6 turnovers on a nightly basis while drawing 19.1 fouls. They surrender 36.3% on 3-pointers and they are 5th in the league in PPG allowed (109.7). The Cavaliers defense is giving up a shooting percentage of 45.7% (2,611 of 5,719) and they surrender 42.7 boards per contest as a team. They rank 5th in basketball in giving up assists to their opponents with 1,594 relinquished for the season.

In their last game, the Pelicans got the victory with a final of 116-103 when they faced the Hawks. The Pelicans collected 39 defensive boards and 4 offensive rebounds for a total of 43 for the game. They also coughed up the ball 12 times, while getting 8 steals in this contest. The Hawks committed 15 fouls for this game which got the Pelicans to the charity stripe for 22 attempts. They were able to knock down 16 of the free throw attempts for a rate of 72.7%. In reference to shots from beyond the arc, New Orleans buried 14 out of their 27 attempts (51.9%). Overall, the Pelicans finished shooting 43 for 75 from the field which had them shooting 57.3%. The Pelicans permitted the Hawks to bury 38 of 91 attempts from the floor which had them sitting at 41.8% for the matchup. They went 37.0% from three-point range via 17 out of 46 and finished the game at 10 of 13 from the free throw line (76.9%). When discussing how they cleaned up the glass, New Orleans allowed Atlanta to snag 41 in all (12 on the offensive glass).

Trey Murphy III ended up being a major contributor for the Pelicans in this game. Murphy earned 28 points in his 30 minutes on the hardwood and earned 2 assists in this game. He knocked down 10 of 18 for the matchup for a rate of 55.6%, and tallied 7 rebounds.

New Orleans has a win-loss mark of 39-25 so far this year. The Pelicans are committing 18.9 personal fouls per contest and they hit 76.7% from the free throw line. They are dishing out assists 27.1 times per game (11th in the league) and they turn it over 13.3 times per game. New Orleans has totaled 7,449 points on the season (116.4 per contest) and they grab 44.7 boards per game. In terms of offensive execution, the Pelicans are hitting on 48.8% from the field, which is ranked 8th in basketball.

The Pelicans are ranked 8th in the NBA in points per game surrendered with 111.1. They are able to force 14.1 turnovers per game and have allowed teams to shoot 45.9% from the floor (5th in basketball). The New Orleans defense surrenders 34.4% on 3-point attempts (856 of 2,488) and their opponents are converting on 77.9% of their foul shots. They have given up 26.8 assists and 42.4 total boards per game, which is 18th and 10th in the NBA.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take New Orleans

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