New Orleans Pelicans at LA Clippers 1/13/21 - NBA Picks & Predictions

The New Orleans Pelicans will be looking to stop a three-game skid when they travel on the road to the STAPLES Center to take on the Los Angeles Clippers. The Clippers are coming off a win beating the Bulls 130-127 to improve to 7-4 on the year. The Pelicans have hung around but struggled to get the wins having lost their last three games by a combined 11 points and are 4-5 on the year.

New Orleans and their young core of players have struggled offensively and are averaging 107.1 points per game, but shooting 45.6% from the field. Obviously, Zion is the talk of the town after being elevated to no minutes restrictions and has answered the hype with solid numbers, he’s second on the team with 21.9 points and in rebounding with 8.1 rebounds. 

Leading the team in scoring is Brandon Ingram, he’s scoring 24 points per game on 45% shooting. The issue thus far for the Pelicans has been a lack of three-point shooting, as a team the Pelicans make a league-lowest 32.2% of their threes. It will be even worse with Lonzo Ball out with an ankle injury, he’s making the most per game on the team with 2.2 per. 

The Clippers hope this season is different after being bounced in the playoffs and have got off to a solid start averaging 111.8 points per game, the 14th most in the NBA this saeson. Led by the superstar tandem of Paul George and Kwahi Leonard, the Clippers are going to be a tough team to beat this season. George leads the way in scoring with 25 per game, he’s shooting 49.7% from the field and 51.2% from beyond the arc.

Kwahi has been more of a distributor this season, leading the team in assists with 5.7 per game, adding 24.4 points on 47.1% shooting. The Clippers role players have also stepped up, even with the heavy volume from Kwahi and PG, they still have 5 players averaging double figures.

New Orleans has been one of the best defensive teams in the NBA this saeson allowing just 106.6 points per game on the year, the 5th ranked scoring defense. Opposing teams are shooting just 44.5% from the field, and 36.2% from beyond the arc. The Clippers allow 111.8 points per game, ranking 14th in scoring defense, but have the tendency to play to their opponents.