New Orleans Pelicans vs Portland Trail Blazers Prediction & Picks - NBA

Prediction published on 10/25/24, 11:29 AM  by Carlos Zabala | Modified on 10/25/24 at 11:40 AM in NBA Picks

After the Pelicans won the first game of the new season against the Bulls, they now face the Trail Blazers in a second game at the Moda Center in Portland. However, the Pelicans received the good news that their star Williamson will return to the line-up after missing the first game of the season due to illness.

The Blazers have not been effective against teams from their conference, coming off a disastrous last season where they finished last with a record of 21-61, and against teams from the Western Conference they left a record of 8-44. Last season they only managed to average 106.4 points per game.

However, for the Pelicans it is not all good news because as well as Williamson returning, Murray broke his left hand when game 1 was ending and the date of his return is still uncertain. He is then joined by Murphy III who will not return until the following month.

As for the Pelicans' game in the first game, they had a very good percentage of 3-point shots, 37.8, unlike the Bulls, they converted up to 90.5% of their free throws and no team averaged more than the 15 steals they achieved in the debut game.