New Orleans Pelicans vs Atlanta Hawks Prediction: Will the Pelicans be able to win against Atlanta?

New Orleans has won two straight, over the Los Angeles Lakers and Sacramento State, scoring more than 130 points in those meetings. Will the Pelicans be able to do the same on offense against Atlanta?

New Orleans Pelicans

After their 131:126 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers, the team was without Jonas Valanciunas - the Lithuanian center suffered a knee injury. Surprisingly, even without their starting big man, Zion Williamson, and Brandon Ingham, who was still out for the season, the Pelicans handled Sacramento State, the third team in the Western Conference, very confidently. New Orleans had 11 steals, 4 of which were made by Jackson Hayes, and 14 three-pointers (136:104). The Pelicans won two straight after a ten-game losing streak and are back among the playoff contenders.

Atlanta Hawks

The Hawks couldn't rely on their leader Trey Young in their last game and lost without a chance to Western Conference leader Denver, 108:128. The team could not contain Jamal Murray with 41 points and Nikola Jokic with another triple-double. The Hawks, without Young, were poor on offense - especially Dejonte Murray, who, scoring 28 points, made only 10 of 21 shots from the field.

This will be Atlanta's fifth consecutive road game against New Orleans. Aside from the loss to Denver, the Hawks lost to Portland (125:129) but were solid against Utah (115:108) and beat Phoenix (132:100).

Expert Betting Tips

The Pelicans got everything they could in their games against the Los Angeles Lakers and Sacramento State. Their offense may still get in trouble in the game against Atlanta. Moreover, the Hawks have improved on the defense of late, and while they had a bad game against Denver, they allowed less than 110 points to Utah and Phoenix before that. Let's take Atlanta's win through the under here. The recent face-to-face statistics against New Orleans are in Atlanta's favor.