The New Orleans Pelicans play host to the Cleveland Cavaliers as they look for a regular season series sweep.
Catch the game tomorrow at 8:00 AM, Manila time.
AWAY: Cleveland Cavaliers (41-24, 19-11 AWAY)
Projected starting five:
- Darius Garland
- Caris LeVert
- Isaac Okoro
- Georges Niang
- Jarrett Allen
The Cavaliers have been bitten by the injury bug. Leading scorer Donovan Mitchell (knee), inside presence Evan Mobley (ankle), and ‘3 and D’ guy Max Strus (knee, are all hurt while the postseason is only a month away. The team comes in as losers of back-to-back and a rough, 5-7 record across their last 12 games (108.6 PPG, 111.7 PAPG).
Floor general Darius Garland (18.8 PPG, 6.2 APG, 1.3 SPG), who’s had his share of injuries this season, leads the available core.
Though on a losing effort, he’ll be coming off a 30-point performance, his highest since his return six weeks ago. Rim protector and rebounder Jarrett Allen will be right behind his point guard. He has 27 double-doubles in his last 36 games.
Dean Wade and Isaac Okoro will be someone to watch out for in the secondary guys. The former had 20 points, nine boards, and six threes, while the latter had 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting in the 123-104 loss to the Pelicans last December 22nd, when the Cavs were similarly shorthanded like the way they are today.
HOME: New Orleans Pelicans (39-25, 18-12 HOME)
Projected starting five:
- CJ McCollum
- Brandon Ingram
- Herb Jones
- Zion Williamson
- Jonas Valanciunas
The Pelicans head back home after a seemingly easy three-game roadtrip. They have also extended their winning streak to four, where they are blasting 121.8 PPG while limiting opponents to only 99.5 points on 40.6% shooting.
With a very deep squad, there’s plenty of guys to look out for in the team. Top scorers Brandon Ingram, CJ McCollum, and Zion Williamson are all bucket-getters that can score 30 every given day. The same can be said about big man Jonas Valanciunas and Trey Murphy III, who are mostly there for support. In fact, Murphy III had a game-high 28 points and buried six treys in the aforementioned win over the Cavs last December. He’s also fresh-off a 10-trey night.
Ingram was 3-of-9 for seven points in NOP’s recent game, so he could make up for it tomorrow. However, Williamson will stay intriguing as he is improving his passing abilities. He’s up to 7.0 assists per game in his last 10 outings, which is on top of his 22.3 PPG and 6.3 RPG averages.
PREDICTIONS:
Handicap: The Pelicans (-6.5) cover the spread.
Over/Under: The total goes over 218.
