Big Easy Believer
Fansided

New Orleans Pelicans: Betting guide vs. Houston Rockets, round three

By Jason Reed

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - DECEMBER 25: James Harden #13 of the Houston Rockets reacts after a teammate was called for a foul against the Golden State Warriors during the second half of an NBA basketball game at Chase Center on December 25, 2019 in San Francisco, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - DECEMBER 25: James Harden #13 of the Houston Rockets reacts after a teammate was called for a foul against the Golden State Warriors during the second half of an NBA basketball game at Chase Center on December 25, 2019 in San Francisco, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

The New Orleans Pelicans are on a mini winning streak and are tasked with a tough challenge in a back-to-back in the Houston Rockets.

We have to take minor victories when we get them with the New Orleans Pelicans and we got just that on Saturday night as the Pelicans won their second game in a row to move to 10 wins on the season.

After surprisingly defeating the Denver Nuggets on Christmas, the Pelicans hosted the Indiana Pacers in a game that did not finish close. The Pelicans held the Pacers to 98 points, which was the third time the Pelicans have held a team to under 100 points this season, all coming in the last five games.

In fact, the Pelicans are looking much better than they did during their woeful losing streak. While there is still a lot of work to be done, the Pelicans have won three games in a row, tying the team’s season-high winning streak, which occurred right before the losing streak.

More from Big Easy Believer

New Orleans has quite the challenge in extending the winning streak to four games on Sunday as they host the Houston Rockets in the second leg of a back-to-back. Back-to-backs are tough already as is, they are even tougher when you have to play the Rockets, who are 22-10 and third in the Western Conference.

The Pelicans have lost both games to the Rockets this season, although the first matchup was much closer than Vegas anticipated. This time around, Vegas is accounting for that as the Pelicans are only four-point underdogs in this game, according to the Action Network.

Against the spread prediction (Record: 15-15-2): Houston Rockets -4

The Houston Rockets are pretty banged up in this game, to be fair. Clint Capela did not play on Saturday and is questionable today, Eric Gordon is also questionable and the team is still dealing with the lose of Nene and Gerald Green.

The Rockets are also coming off of a back-to-back, and unlike the Pelicans, had to travel from venue to venue. That seemingly should give the Pelicans an advantage, but that won’t be enough.

The New Orleans Pelicans can score alongside the Rockets if they have everything going and Brandon Ingram has yet another great game. However, the problem is that this Rockets team is not a team that the Pelicans will be able to hold to under 100 points.

This is going to be a scoring showcase and as we have seen time and time again, the Pelicans lose these kind of games.

dark. Next. The only situation that gets Antonio Brown signed

The hope, for the purpose of my pick, is that the Pelicans lose by five or more, but it is very realistic that the team only loses by a possession. Either way, this will be a game that we could probably predict the outcome of very early on in the game.

Home/New Orleans Pelicans