Dallas Mavericks vs New Orleans Pelicans Prediction & Betting Tips - NBA

Prediction published on 13/01/2024, 01:50  by Kennedy Kechula in NBA Predictions

The New Orleans Pelicans will be away to the Dallas Mavericks looking to get back to winning ways in the NBA. They come into this match having dropped to seventh in the Western Conference just below sixth-placed Dallas. The Mavericks got back to winning ways themselves last time out and will be keen to keep it that way. Jason Kidd's men, without the services of Luka Doncic, defeated the in-form Knicks 128-124 at home. Kyrie Irving put on a masterclass in the victory and led all other scorers with 44 points and provided 10 assists. The Mavs, who are now 23-16, are 4.5 games off top spot in the West. Doncic will continue to be sidelined with an ankle problem. Dante Exum will also miss this game while Derrick Lively and Maxi Kleber are listed as ‘Questionable’. Dallas currently possesses the seventh-best-ranked offence and is averaging 118.8 points a night. They defeated the Pelicans in the first regular season matchup 136-124.

The Pelicans won last time out against the Mavs. This was in the group stages of the IN-Season Tournament and blew out their soon-to-be hosts by 21. They will hope for another similar outcome and Doncic being out should be extra motivation for them to win. Willie Green’s men are coming off a 125-113 defeat in Denver that ended a two-game winning run. The Pelicans have been in superb form and have won six of their last eight games. It was an off-shooting night for the Pels against the Nuggets as only Zion Williamson scored more than 20 points. He scored 30 with Jonas Valanciunas pouring in 17 points as the second leading scorer. New Orleans is ranked sixth for points allowed and is holding teams to 111.5 points a night. As this is the second game of a back-to-back, the team’s injury report is yet to be revealed.