New Orleans Pelicans (8-28) travel to the Kaseya Center to take on Miami Heat (19-16).
Expect a really fast and transitional matchup between two teams that rank in the top third for pace in the league. It is a tale of two sides in terms of form going into this one. New Orleans Pelicans have lost 6 consecutive games and see themselves bottom of the West. They have only won two road games this season and look set to lose another tonight as 8.5 point underdogs. With herb Jones ruled out, both Trey Murphy III and Derik Queen questionable you would have to ask whether they have enough to compete against a well oiled Miami Heat.
Miami might see the return of Tyler Herro tonight who is listed as questionable. They come into this match with 4 wins in their last 5. They lead the league for pace in the last 5 games, and this could setup an end to end match tonight. Norman Powell being available is a big plus for Miami, as he is averaging 24 PPG in his last 5.
Our Prediction:
Both of these sides rank in the top third for pace this season. The stats do not support the over 248.5 pts typically lands in this encounter, but I think tonight will be fairly end to end with Miami players cashing in on terrible defence from New Orleans.
Injury Report:
New Orleans Pelicans: Sadiq Bey (Out), Dejounte Murray (Out), Hunter Dickinson (Out), Herb Jones (Out), Derik Queen (Questionable), Trey Murphy III (Questionable)
Miami Heat: Bam Adebayo (probable), Vladislav Goldin (Out), Tyler Herro (Questionable), Jaime Jaquez Jr (Questionable), Keshad Johnson (Out), Nikola Jovic (Questionable), Pelle Larsson (Probable), Terry Rozier (Out), Jahmir Young (Out)