Portland Trail Blazers vs New Orleans Pelicans Prediction, 1/8/2025 Preview and Pick

Game: Portland Trail Blazers vs New Orleans Pelicans

Date: Wednesday, January 8, 2025

Location: Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, LA

TV: Gulf Coast Sports

The New Orleans Pelicans (7-29) will go up against the Portland Trail Blazers (12-23) at Smoothie King Center on Wednesday.

The Trail Blazers faced the Pistons and walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 118-115 in their last game. When it comes to personal fouls, the Trail Blazers ended up finishing with 18 while the Pistons recorded 15 personal fouls. They converted 15 out of their 43 attempts from distance. Detroit walked away from this one shooting 86.4% from the free throw line by making 19 of their 22 shots. Moreover, Detroit pulled down 45 boards (17 offensive, 28 defensive) and added 4 blocks. Detroit recorded 23 dimes and had 9 steals for this game. In the matter of the defense, Portland allowed the other team to go 44.7% from the field on 42 of 94 shooting. They also distributed 32 assists in the game while forcing 15 turnovers and having 6 steals. Regarding grabbing rebounds, they earned a total of 38 with 7 of them being of the offensive sort. When they shot from the free throw line, the Trail Blazers buried 3 of their 5 attempts for a percentage of 60.0%. Portland finished with a 53.3% FG percentage (48 out of 90) and made 16 of their 35 three-point attempts.

Anfernee Simons is someone who had an impact in this contest. He recorded 36 points on 14 out of 21 shooting. He was on the court for 36 mins and also totaled 2 boards. Simons finished 66.7% from the floor and also totaled 9 dimes.

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Portland steps onto the court with a record of 12-23 on the season. They turn it over 16.5 times per contest and as a squad are committing 19.5 fouls per game. As a team, Portland is grabbing 43.2 boards per game and has 811 assists on the season, which ranks 27th in the league in terms of passing the rock. The Trail Blazers are connecting on 33.6% on three-point attempts (421 of 1,253) and 77.0% from the charity stripe. They have an average of 108.1 pts per game (25th in the league) while going 44.9% from the field.

On the defensive end, the Trail Blazers are forcing 15.2 turnovers per contest while drawing 18.9 personal fouls. They are 20th in the league in giving up assists to the opposition with 963 conceded so far this year. The Trail Blazers defense is allowing a FG percentage of 47.9% (1,478 of 3,087) and they surrender 44.5 rebounds per game as a basketball team. They surrender 37.6% on 3-pointers and they are ranked 23rd in the league in points per game from their opponents (116.8).

The last time they took the court, the Pelicans walked away with a victory by a final of 110-98 against the Wizards. The Pelicans were able to snag 38 defensive rebounds and 11 offensive rebounds totaling 49 for this game. They also turned it over 12 times, while earning 7 steals in this game. The Wizards committed 18 fouls for this contest which got the Pelicans to the free throw line for a total of 20 tries. They were able to knock down 18 of them for a percentage of 90.0%. In terms of shots from downtown, New Orleans converted 18 of their 49 tries (36.7%). When all was said and done, the Pelicans went 37 for 90 from the field which gave them a percentage of 41.1%. The Pelicans allowed the Wizards to knock down 38 out of 89 tries from the field which left them shooting 42.7% for the contest. They shot 26.8% from 3-point land by hitting 11 out of 41 and ended up shooting 11 out of 14 at the charity stripe (78.6%). When discussing rebounding, New Orleans allowed Washington to snag 46 in total (9 offensive).

CJ McCollum was important for the Pelicans in the matchup. He converted 9 of 18 in this contest for a field goal percentage of 50.0%, and had 3 rebounds. McCollum tallied 25 points in his 36 mins of playing time and tallied 3 assists for this contest.

New Orleans has a mark of 7-29 on the campaign. The Pelicans commit 18.5 personal fouls per game and they go 77.2% from the charity stripe. They are getting an assist 24.9 times per game (21st in the NBA) and they turn the ball over 14.9 times per contest. New Orleans has accumulated 3,870 pts so far this year (107.5 per game) and they grab 42.6 boards per game. As an offensive unit, the Pelicans are shooting 44.2% from the floor, which has them ranked 28th in basketball.

The Pelicans are ranked 25th in the league in PPG given up with 117.5. They are forcing their opponents into 15.2 TO's every game and allow teams to shoot 48.6% from the floor (29th in the league). The New Orleans defense surrenders 36.9% on 3-point attempts (508 of 1,375) and opponents are connecting on 79.5% of their free throw attempts. They give up 28.4 dimes and 45.5 rebounds every game, which is 26th and 26th in the league.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take New Orleans

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