New York Knicks vs New Orleans Pelicans 11/16/18 NBA Odds, Preview and Prediction

The New York Knicks take on the New Orleans Pelicans in an inter conference matchup on Friday, 11/16/18 at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana.

The Knicks suffered their third straight blowout loss when they were trashed by the Oklahoma City Thunder 128-103 on Thursday night. Meanwhile, the Pelicans saw their three game win streak come to a halt in Minnesota as New Orleans lost 100-107 to the Timberwolves.

Knicks’ Blowout Losses

The Knicks’ continue to struggle without their unicorn Kristaps Porzingis who is still recovering from an ACL injury. New York has lost six of its last eight games overall to fall to 4-11 on the season. The Knicks are currently on a three game losing skid with all losses coming via blowout. New York has lost its last three games by an average losing margin of 22.33 points per game.

Tim Hardaway Jr. has been the lone bright spot for the Knicks. The six year veteran is having the best season of his NBA career with his 22.9 points per game scoring average. Enes Kanter is also contributing 15.7 points and 11.7 rebounds per game but outside the two, New York has found little contribution from its other players.

As a result, the Knicks rank only 25th in the league with an offensive rating of 105.8 points per 100 possessions. To add to their woes, their defense has likewise faltered this season as the team is giving up 112.3 points per 100 possessions, good for 26th in the entire league.

Pelicans Playing Wounded

The New Orleans Pelicans started the season strong with a 4-0 record which included wins over the Rockets and Clippers. But the team has been playing wounded as of late as injuries have taken their toll on their performance. Anthony Davis has missed four games with an elbow injury, Nikola Mirotic sat out three games with an ankle injury and point guard Elfrid Payton is still out with an ankle injury.

The Pelicans push a fast pace as they average a 4th best 104 possessions per 48 minutes. Their offense has also been impressive as the Pelicans rank 7th in offensive efficiency at 112.5 points per 100 possessions. However, the early injuries to their defensive stalwarts Davis and Mirotic have disrupted their defense hence they Pelicans rank only 23rd in defensive efficiency at 111.4 points per 100 possessions.

Who Wins?

New Orleans leads the all-time series between these teams at 18-16 and have won four out of the last six meetings between these teams. Last season though, they split their season series 1-1 with the Knicks winning 105-103 in New Orleans and the Pelicans returning the favor with a 123-118 OT win in the Big Apple.

The Pelicans have been a solid 5-1 SU at home this season while the Knicks have struggled on the road with a 2-6 record away from the Garden. With the Pelicans getting Davis and Mirotic back and Payton targeting to return to action on Friday, the Pelicans should be closer to full strength than the Knicks who are without Porzingis and Courtney Lee.

Other Bets To Make

The Knicks are 1-5 ATS in their last 6 games played and 2-4-1 ATS in their last 7 games on the road. The Pelicans are 2-6 ATS in their last 8 games played and are 3-3 ATS in their six home games this season. Head to head, the Pelicans are 4-1 SU in their last 5 games against the Knicks but New Orleans is 3-6 SU in their last 9 home games against New York.

New York is 7-3 ATS in their last 10 games against New Orleans but are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 meetings. The Knicks are 2-7 ATS in their last 9 games against Western Conference teams while the Pelicans are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games against Atlantic Division teams and 13-6 ATS in their last 19 home games overall.

The total has gone under in 5 out of the last 6 games between the Knicks and Pelicans. The total has also gone under in 6 out of the last 7 games between these two teams in New Orleans.