Portland Trail Blazers vs New Orleans Pelicans 02/17/2021 Odds, Preview and Pick

The Portland Trail Blazers visit the Big Easy and take on the New Orleans Pelicans in a divisional matchup at the Smoothie King Center on Wednesday night.

Portland bounced back from five straight losses with five consecutive wins and improve to 17-10 on the season. Despite playing without starters Jusuf Nurkic and C.J. McCollum, the Blazers are 4th in the Conference team standings. Meanwhile, the Pelicans ended a three-game slide with a win in their last outing. New Orleans has won five out of its last eight games played but are still out of playoff position in the East.

Portland Trail Blazers

The Blazers are currently 17-10 on the season and they have the second-best record in the Northwest division with the league-leading Jazz 5.5 games off the pace. However, they are 4th in the Western Conference team standings and would have home court advantage in Round 1 if the playoffs started today. Portland has won its last five games and heads to New Orleans after beating the OKC Thunder in their last outing.

Lillard led the Blazers with 31 points against OKC while Gary Trent Jr. also put up 19 points for Portland. Enes Kanter also had a big night with 8 points and 21 rebounds to help the Blazers. Carmelo Anthony, Nassir Little, and Aftnernee Simons all scored in double digits while combining for 38 points off the bench

Portland is the 6th best scoring team in the NBA at 115.5 points per game this season. They are 16th in rebounding at 44.3 boards grabbed per contest but are last in passing at 19.2 assists per game. The Blazers are 25th in scoring defense at 115.2 points per game allowed.

New Orleans Pelicans

The New Orleans Pelicans are 12-15 on the season and are in fourth place in the NBA’s Northwest division. The Pelicans are out of the Top 8 right now but are just 2.5 games off the 8th seeded Golden State Warriors. New Orleans snapped out of a three-game losing streak by defeating the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday night.

Zion Williamson had a big night with 31 points on 13-16 shooting with seven rebounds and six assists. Josh Hart added a season-high 27 points while All-Star forward Brandon Ingram added 22. Willy Hernangomez came off the bench to score 14 points and 8 rebounds while Lonzo Ball contributed 13 points and 5 assists.

New Orleans ranks 13th in the league in scoring at 113.2 points per game while also ranking 23rd in scoring defense at 114.1 points per game allowed. The Pelicans are 6th in rebounding at 46.0 boards grabbed per contest and they are 18th in passing at 24.6 assists per game.

Who Wins?

Portland is 5-0 SU in their last five games played. The Blazers are 5-2 SU in their last seven games played on the road. New Orleans is 1-3 SU in their last four games played, and 3-2 SU in their last five games played at home. The Pelicans are 1-5 SU in their last six games played against the Northwest Division, and 7-13 SU in their last 20 Wednesday games played. Head to head, the Pelicans are 7-3 SU in their last 10 games played against the Blazers.

New Orleans has leaned on sophomore Zion Williamson who is averaging 24.4 points and 6.8 rebounds per game this season and Brandon Ingram who is also scoring 24.0 points per game. However, the team could be without top rebounder Steven Adams who left Tuesday’s game with lower back pain. Adams is questionable and if he doesn’t play, the league’s 6th best rebounding team will have trouble controlling the boards.

The Pelicans are just 7-5 at home this season while the Blazers are 9.5 away from the Moda Center. With both teams playing little to no defense at all this year, the better offensive team should win this game. With Gary Trent Jr. and Carmelo Anthony providing Lillard the much needed scoring boost with McCollum out, I think the Blazers have the more explosive offense. Give me the home team.

Prediction: Portland Trail Blazers

Other Bets To Make

The Blazers are 5-0 ATS in their last five games played. Portland is 8-2 ATS in their last 10 games played on the road and 18-7 ATS in their last 25 Wednesday games. The Pelicans are 12-15 ATS in 27 games played so far this season. New Orleans is also 4-1 ATS in their last five games played against an opponent with a winning SU record and 5-2 ATS in their last seven home games. Head to head, the Pelicans are 7-3 ATS in their last 10 games against the Blazers, and 4-1 ATS in their last five home games against Portland.

The Blazers have thrived in the underdog role this season, going 4-0 ATS in their last four games as the betting underdog and 5-1 ATS in their last six games as road underdogs. Sure, the Blazers are undermanned in this game and will be playing the second of a back-to-back schedule. However, this is a team that shoots 38.5% from deep and commits just 11.4 turnovers per game. With the Pelicans’ leaky defense, Portland should score more than enough points to win this game outright.

Prediction: Portland Trail Blazers +3

The total has gone over in 10 out of the last 14 games played by the Blazers. Portland has seen the total go over in five out of their last seven road games. The over is also 6-0 in Portland’s last six games as the underdog, 7-2 in their last nine games after a straight up win. The total has gone over in each of the last five games played by the Pelicans. The over is 9-2 in their last 11 games played at home, 5-0 in their last five Wednesday games, and 7-1 in their last eight games when playing on zero days rest.

Neither team is know for its defense. The Blazers are 25th in scoring defense while the Pelicans are 23rd in that statistical department. They have combined to score an average of 232.4 points per game in their last 10 meetings. Portland has scored more than 106 points in seven out of their last 10 games while the Pelicans have put up 130 or more points in three out of their last five outings. This should be a track meet.

Prediction: Over 232.5

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