Cavaliers vs Pelicans Pick, Preview & Betting Odds For Friday, February 10th

Check out our free Cavaliers vs Pelicans pick and preview for this NBA game in New Orleans. See who we like to win and cover the spread in this NBA matchup.

Cavaliers vs Pelicans NBA Pick & Preview

Sport: NBA
Teams: Cleveland Cavaliers at New Orleans Pelicans
Where: New Orleans at Smoothie King Center
Date: Friday, February 10th
Betting Odds NO +2.5, CLE -139 | NO +114 O/U OFF

The Cavaliers come into today’s matchup with an overall record of 35-22. So far, the team has gone 32-24-1 against the spread. Cleveland will be going for their 5 straight win in today’s game as they have rattled off 4 straight wins.

In their previous game, the Cavaliers took down the Pistons by a score of 113-85. Not only did they come away with a straight up win, but they also covered the spread as 8 point favorites. Cleveland played well enough in the second half to prevent the Pistons from making things interesting down the stretch, as they led by 11 going into halftime. In the win, Jarrett Allen led the team in scoring with 20 points on a field goal percentage of 69.2%.

So far, the Pelicans have put together an overall record of 29-27, while going 27-29-0 vs the spread. The Pelicans entered today’s game having picked up 3 straight wins. This has come on an average scoring differential of 15.33 points per game.

The Pelicans will look to keep things rolling, as they previously beat the Hawks by a score of 116-107. Heading into the game, they were 1 point favorites against the spread, giving them an ATS win. New Orleans went on to win the game, as they led by 3 heading into halftime. Leading the team in scoring was Brandon Ingram, as he contributed 30 points while hitting 61.1% of his shots.

Head To Head Recap & Stats

I Last year, the Cavaliers saw a drop in overall scoring when playing the Pelicans, averaging 98.5 points per game. Like the Cavaliers, the Pelicans scored at a rate below their season average, finishing with 99.0 points per game vs Cleveland. The ATS record across the previous 5 head-to-head meetings is 3-2 in favor of the Pelicans. In these matchups, New Orleans has averaged 106 points per game, while allowing 100. The over-under record in these same games is 2-3, with the teams combining for an average of 206 points per game.

Odds & Free Betting Analysis For This NBA Game

This season, the Cleveland offense is ranked 26th in the NBA in scoring at 111.8 points per game. When looking at the team’s pace of play, the Cavaliers are currently below the league average in possessions per game, averaging just 96.0 per contest. Although the Cavaliers have a current effective field goal percentage of 55.6%, their below average pace of play is a key factor behind their mediocre scoring numbers.

Against the Pelicans, the Cavaliers will look to continue their strong defensive play. For the year, they are the 5th ranked unit at 105.67 points per game.

Shooting Guard Donovan Mitchell currently leads the Cavaliers at 26.8 points per game. For the season, he is 13th in the NBA in usage rate and has taken 23.2% of the team’s field goal attempts. In addition to his scoring, Mitchell is averaging 3.9 boards and 4.9 assists per contest. In today’s game, he is facing off against the NBA’s 23rd ranked defense at defending shooting guards. Darius Garland enters the game sitting second on the team in scoring. Through 47 games, he is averaging 22.0 and is 69th in the league in player efficiency rating.

The New Orleans offense will take the floor in today’s game with the league’s 11th ranked offense at 115.5 points per game. Coming into today’s game, the Pelicans will be looking to improve their 3-point shooting numbers, as they are averaging just 10.9 made 3’s per game. If the New Orleans offense is going to turn things around, not only do they need to improve their outside shooting but they must do a better job protecting the ball. Currently, they are averaging 14.3 turnovers per game.

Defensively, New Orleans has had its problems giving up an average of 110.28 points per game (13th).

This season, the Pelicans offense has primarily worked through CJ McCollum and Jonas Valanciunas who are 1st and 2nd on the team in scoring. In his 50 games, McCollum is 42nd in the NBA at 21.3 points per game. So far, him and Valanciunas have accounted for 33% of the team’s field goal attempts while combining to average 35.9 points per contest. In addition to sitting 2nd on the team in scoring, Jonas Valanciunas is grabbing 9.8 rebounds for New Orleans to go along with 1.7 assists.