Toronto Raptors vs New Orleans Pelicans Basketball Preview - 11-27-2024
On Wednesday night, two teams near the bottom of the NBA standings meet when Toronto hosts New Orleans Pelicans at Smoothie King Center. Toronto opened as 3-point road underdogs but faded back down to 2.5 with recent action taking place; over/under is set at 222.5 points.
This season, the Raptors have proven an ideal team to wager against with an 11-6 record against the spread (ATS). Their young core has quickly adopted Darko Rajakovic's system which promotes fast tempo and ball movement. While not one of the league's highest scoring teams, they make up for it by taking fifth most field goal attempts and ranking eighth in assists.
However, the Raptors remain inconsistent and allow their opponents to score freely; this season they have lost 10 games by six points or less - more than any team in the league! They rank 28th in three-point percentage and do not possess an ideal point guard to lead their offense; RJ Barrett and Jakob Poeltl are their primary options but each only can do so much for them.
The Pelicans share many similarities with the Raptors in terms of issues they are currently facing, yet their issues are more extreme. They rank second-worst in NBA scoring at just 104.1 points per game while ranking 22nd overall for points allowed at 117.9. While their roster includes some solid pieces, more consistency on both sides of the ball must be found across both departments to find success on either end. On defense they have allowed opponents to shoot 43.2 percent from beyond the arc while scoring 52.3 points in the paint while they have struggled against forcing turnovers -- ranking them 23rd overall in forced turnovers generation.
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