Denver Nuggets vs New Orleans Pelicans Prediction, 12/22/2024 Preview and Pick

Game: Denver Nuggets vs New Orleans Pelicans

Date: Sunday, December 22, 2024

Location: Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, LA

TV: Gulf Coast Sports

Smoothie King Center is the location where the New Orleans Pelicans (5-23) will take on the Denver Nuggets (14-11) on Sunday.

The Nuggets took the court against the Trail Blazers and ended up losing by a score of 126-124 in their last game. When talking about personal fouls, the Nuggets ended up with 20 and the Trail Blazers recorded 18 personal fouls. They converted 16 of 46 attempts from three-point range. Portland went 83.3% at the free throw line by making 20 of their 24 shots. Additionally, Portland collected 45 boards (15 offensive, 30 defensive) and had 3 rejections. Portland earned 29 assists and had 7 steals in this game. In the matter of defense, Denver allowed the other team to shoot 46.4% from the floor on 45 of 97 shooting. They also recorded 35 assists for the matchup while creating 10 turnovers and having 7 steals. In terms of rebounding, they earned 40 with 8 of them being of the offensive sort. At the charity stripe, the Nuggets knocked down 15 of their 21 shots for a rate of 71.4%. Denver finished with a 54.0% FG percentage (47 out of 87) and made 15 of 34 shots from downtown.

Nikola Jokic is one player who was a contributor in this game. He ended up finishing with 34 points on 13 of 18 shooting. He played 37 minutes played and snagged 6 boards. Jokic finished 72.2% from the field and totaled 8 dimes.

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Denver comes into this game with a mark of 14-11 on the year. They turn it over 14.7 times per contest and as a team are committing 18.4 fouls on a nightly basis. As a team, Denver is pulling in 44.8 boards per game and has racked up 775 assists for the campaign, which has them ranked 6th in the league in terms of passing the ball. The Nuggets are connecting on 38.3% on 3-point shots (292 of 763) and 75.2% from the charity stripe. They currently have an average of 119.4 points per contest (4th in basketball) while connecting on 49.6% from the field.

On the defensive end of the court, the Nuggets are forcing their opponents into 14.8 turnovers per contest and they draw 21.1 fouls. They are 23rd in the league in giving up assists to their opponents with 738 conceded so far this year. The Nuggets are giving up an opponent shooting percentage of 46.7% (1,090 of 2,332) and they relinquish 43.8 boards per contest as a unit. They are giving up 35.8% on three-point shots and they are ranked 24th in the league in points per game allowed (116.9).

When they last stepped on the hardwood, the Pelicans went home defeated by a final of 133-113 when they faced the Rockets. With respect to rebounds, New Orleans permitted Houston to get 42 in all (6 offensive). They finished shooting 43.6% from distance by shooting 17 of 39 and walked away from this one shooting 16 of 19 from the free throw line (84.2%). The Pelicans permitted the Rockets to convert 50 out of their 87 attempts from the field which gave them a rate of 57.5% in the matchup. Overall, the Pelicans finished 41 for 92 from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 44.6%. Regarding 3-pointers, New Orleans converted 13 of 28 tries (46.4%). They were able to knock down 18 of the free throw attempts for a percentage of 72.0%. The Rockets had 20 personal fouls in the game which took the Pelicans to the charity stripe for a total of 25 shots. They gave up possession of the ball 12 times, while earning 6 steals for the game. The Pelicans were able to pull down 26 defensive boards and 11 offensive rebounds totaling 37 for this game.

Trey Murphy III ended up being important for the Pelicans in the game. He buried 10 out of 17 in this contest for a rate of 58.8%, and earned 1 rebound. Murphy recorded 28 points in his 36 mins on the court and accumulated 3 dimes in this contest.

New Orleans has a win-loss record of 5-23 on the season. The Pelicans are committing 18.2 personal fouls per game and they connect on 76.0% from the charity stripe. Their rate of earning assists is at 23.6 times per game (26th in the league) and they lose possession by turning the ball over 15.1 times per contest. New Orleans has 2,950 points for the campaign (105.4 per contest) and they average 43.0 rebounds per game. On the offensive side of the ball, the Pelicans are shooting 43.7% from the floor, which ranks them 29th in the league.

The New Orleans defense concedes 37.2% on 3-pointers (401 of 1,077) and opponents are converting on 79.2% of their free throw attempts. They have conceded 28.8 assists and 45.5 boards per contest, which ranks 28th and 25th in the league. The Pelicans defensively are ranked 26th in the league in points given up per game with 117.1. They are forcing 14.5 turnovers per game and allow teams to shoot 48.7% from the field (29th in the league).

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Denver

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