New Orleans Pelicans vs Houston Rockets Prediction & Betting Tips - NBA

Prediction published on 23/12/2023, 00:07  by Joseph King | Modified on 23/12/2023 at 11:00 in NBA Prediction

The seventh-place New Orleans Pelicans play host to the eighth-place Houston Rockets for this NBA Western Conference showdown. The Pelicans have been a streaky team this season but they’ve been able to nail down a consistent run of results and are playing good basketball. They secured a 124-103 away win over a heavily banged-up Cavaliers side in their most recent outing. The victory was their fifth win in the last six games, raising their seasonal record to 17-12. This puts them seventh in the highly-competitive West, two games ahead of their opponents today and just a half game behind the fourth-place Kings. The Pels now return to the Smoothie King Center for the first of a five game homestand. New Orleans has an 8-5 record at home as well as an impressive 71.4% cover rate against the spread.

Houston was able to put an end to a three game losing streak with a dominant 122-96 win over a Luka-less Dallas Mavericks on Friday night. The MVP candidate’s absence means that Dallas never stood much of a chance, especially against the Houston defense that is absolutely locking teams up in their home gym. The Rockets are giving up the second-fewest points per game overall at 108.4 and have the league’s best home defense with just 100.6 ppg allowed. This has led Ime Udoka’s team to a 12-2 record at the Toyota Center. On the road, however, is a different story. Houston’s managed just two wins in 12 trips, bringing their overall record to 14-12 and placing them eighth in the standings. They'll have no rest as they play the second leg of a back-to-back, a situation where they have failed to win their three attempts so far this season.