The Los Angeles Lakers (31-45) are vying for their playoff lives as they host the New Orleans Pelicans (33-43) Friday. Tip-off at Crypto.com Arena is scheduled for 10:30 p.m. ET. Below, we look at the Pelicans vs. Lakers odds and lines, and make our expert NBA picks, predictions and bets.
L.A. could be getting PF Anthony Davis back tonight for this crucial game versus NOLA. The Lakers have dropped to the 11-seed in the Western Conference. They are tied with the San Antonio Spurs for the 10-seed but are losing the tiebreaker.
The Pelicans are 5-2 straight up (SU) and against the spread (ATS) in the last 14 days, which includes back-to-back victories over the Lakers Sunday (116-108) and at the Portland Trail Blazers Wednesday (117-107).
The Lakers are 2-5 SU and 4-3 ATS over the past two weeks but have lost four straight games to Philadephia 76ers Mar. 23 (126-121), at the Pelicans, at the Dallas Mavericks Tuesday (128-110) and at the Utah Jazz Thursday (122-109).
NOLA is 2-1 SU and ATS versus L.A. this season and the total is 0-3 Over/Under (O/U).
Pelicans at Lakers odds, spread and lines
Odds provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 11:34 a.m. ET.
- Money line (ML): Pelicans -130 (bet $130 to win $100) | Lakers +105 (bet $100 to win $105)
- Against the spread: Pelicans -1.5 (-120) | Lakers +1.5 (-105)
- Over/Under: 230.5 (O: -107 | U: -115)
Pelicans at Lakers key injuries
Pelicans
- None
Lakers (not officially submitted)
- PF Anthony Davis (ankle) probable
- SF LeBron James (knee) questionable
[tipico]
Pelicans at Lakers odds, lines, picks and predictions
Prediction
Pelicans 115, Lakers 109
Money line
LEAN to the PELICANS (-130) only because we’ll probably get a better number for NOLA if we wait closer to tip-off. The public will start betting on the Lakers once AD and LeBron are announced in the starting 5.
However, there’s massive reverse line movement (RLM) towards NOLA in both the ML and ATS markets.
The Pelicans opened as a +120 underdog but have been moved to a favorite despite a majority of the action being on the Lakers according to Pregame.com. RLM is a red flag since it would make more sense for the sportsbooks to make the more popular side pricier.
The bottom line is NOLA is a better team from top to bottom than L.A. and the Lakers need Herculean efforts from AD and LeBron just to remain in play-in territory. The Pelicans have a legit frontcourt and acquiring SG C.J. McCollum at the trade deadline has paid dividends in their backcourt so far.
NOLA’s matchup combined with RLM makes the PELICANS (-130) the right side but I’d wait until the official starters are posted before placing a wager.
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Against the spread
PASS with a heavy “lean” to the Pelicans -1.5 (-120) because they should win by margin. However, NOLA’s ML is only 10 cents on the dollar more expensive so why sweat a cover?
Over/Under
LEAN UNDER 230.5 (-115) because the Under has cashed in six of NOLA’s past seven games and L.A.’s offense is broken.
The AD-LeBron-PG Russell Westbrook experiment is a failure and the Pelicans have the third-best adjusted defensive rating over the past two weeks, according to CleaningTheGlass.com.
It’s only a LEAN UNDER 230.5 (-115) because we are getting the worst of the number since the Pelicans-Lakers opened with a 234-point total.
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