New Orleans Pelicans vs Cleveland Cavaliers Prediction & Betting Tips - NBA

Prediction published on 13/03/2024, 07:49  by Joseph King | Modified on 13/03/2024 at 08:01 in NBA Predictions

An intriguing contest in the NBA on Wednesday sees the high-flying fifth-placed Pelicans in the Western Conference hosting the East’s third-place Cleveland Cavaliers. The Pelicans are up to fifth in the competitive West with a record of 39 wins and 25 losses on the year. This has them pushing for a spot in the top four or as they’ll be looking to shorten the Clippers lead from two games to just one with a victory here. New Orleans capped off a perfect 3-0 road trip with a 116-103 away victory over the Hawks last Sunday and will now take to the court at the Smoothie King Center well rested. The victory also represented the fourth in a row for the Pelicans as well as their fifth from the last six games played. New Orleans has seen its defense really step up in recent games as they’ve twice kept their opponents to under 100 points in the last three games while giving up an average of just 99.5 points per game during this current winning streak.

The Cavs could be without star player Donovan Mitchell as the All-Star shooting guard is questionable with a knee injury. Mitchell has missed out on his team’s last seven games, in which time Cleveland has posted a 3-4 record. Most recently, the Cavs fell 117-111 at home to the Suns on Monday, their second loss on the bounce and third from their last four games. This has Cleveland sitting third in the Eastern Conference with a 41-24 record, still placing them pretty comfortably in the top-six automatic qualifying spots by 4.5 games. The Cavaliers have one of the NBA’s best away records at 19-11, in large part thanks to their excellent defense which ranks as the third-best in terms of adjusted defensive rating.