New Orleans Pelicans vs Houston Rockets Prediction, 3/8/2025 Preview and Pick

Game: New Orleans Pelicans vs Houston Rockets

Date: Saturday, March 8, 2025

Location: Toyota Center in Houston, TX

TV: Space City Home Network

The New Orleans Pelicans (17-45) are en route to Toyota Center on Saturday where they will play the Houston Rockets (37-25).

The Pelicans stepped onto the hardwood against the Lakers and went home with a loss by a final score of 136-115 in their last game. When talking about personal fouls, the Pelicans ended up with 17 and the Lakers had 12 personal fouls. They converted 19 of their 52 shots from three-point range. Los Angeles finished shooting 77.8% at the charity stripe by making 21 of their 27 shots. On top of that, Los Angeles collected 51 boards (17 offensive, 34 defensive) and added 3 rejections. Los Angeles recorded 32 assists and had 7 steals in this game. With respect to the defense, New Orleans allowed the other team to go 53.3% from the floor on 48 out of 90 shooting. They also recorded 29 assists for the game as well as creating 15 turnovers and having 11 steals. In relation to grabbing boards, they collected a total of 35 with 10 of them being on the offensive end. When they shot from the charity stripe, the Pelicans buried 14 of 21 attempts for a percentage of 66.7%. New Orleans ended having earned a 49.5% FG percentage (46 of 93) and made 9 of their 34 shots from beyond the perimeter.

Zion Williamson is a player who had an impact in this matchup. Williamson finished the game shooting 73.9% from the floor and also totaled 6 dimes. He played 26 minutes and collected 4 rebounds. He finished with 37 points on 17 out of 23 shooting.

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New Orleans heads into this contest with a record of 17-45 on the year. They cough up possession 14.1 times per game and as a group they commit 18.0 fouls every game. As a team, New Orleans is collecting 43.5 rebounds per game and has earned 1,583 assists so far this year, which is 21st in basketball in terms of passing the ball. The Pelicans are shooting 34.6% on three-point attempts (758 of 2,188) and 76.0% from the free throw line. They average 111.0 pts per contest (21st in the league) while hitting 45.1% from the floor.

On the defensive end, the Pelicans are forcing 14.6 turnovers per game while drawing 18.0 fouls. They are surrendering 36.7% on 3-point attempts and they are 26th in the NBA in opponents PPG (119.0). The Pelicans are allowing a field goal percentage of 48.2% (2,722 of 5,653) and they surrender 46.5 rebounds per game as a team. They currently rank 27th in the NBA in allowing assists to the opposition with 1,796 surrendered this season.

When they last stepped on the court, the Rockets took a loss by a score of 115-102 when they played the Pacers. Concerning how they cleaned up the glass, Houston permitted Indiana to collect 35 in total (5 on the offensive side). They finished 40.5% from three-point range by shooting 17 out of 42 and ended up shooting 10 of 10 from the free throw line (100.0%). The Rockets allowed the Pacers to make 44 of their 86 tries from the field which left them with a rate of 51.2% in this matchup. When the final whistle blew, the Rockets walked away from this one shooting 40 out of 98 from the field which had them shooting 40.8%. In regard to shots from distance, Houston made 9 out of their 30 attempts (30.0%). They were able to convert 13 of those for a clip of 50.0%. The Pacers had 19 personal fouls in the game which got the Rockets to the charity stripe for 26 attempts. They turned the ball over 14 times, while earning 6 steals for this contest. The Rockets snagged 34 defensive boards and 24 offensive boards totaling 58 for the matchup.

Alperen Sengun ended up being a factor for the Rockets for the matchup. Sengun earned 25 points in his 35 mins on the hardwood and totaled 7 assists in this game. He buried 12 out of 19 for this game for a field goal percentage of 63.2%, and accounted for 9 rebounds.

Houston has a record of 37-25 for the season. On the offensive side of the ball, the Rockets are connecting on 44.6% from the field, which ranks them 26th in the league. Houston has 6,987 points on the campaign (112.7 per contest) and they pull in 48.3 boards per contest. They are dishing out assists 22.5 times per game (30th in the league) and they are losing possession via turnover 14.0 times per game. The Rockets commit 19.5 fouls every game and they hit 74.3% from the free throw line.

The Rockets on defense are ranked 6th in basketball in PPG allowed with 109.4. They are forcing 14.6 TO's per game and allow teams to shoot 45.6% from the floor (5th in the league). The Houston defense concedes 35.2% on shots from beyond the perimeter (757 of 2,152) and their opponents are converting on 75.3% of their foul shots. They have conceded 23.1 assists and 42.9 rebounds per game, which ranks 2nd and 9th in the league.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Houston

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