Houston Rockets vs New Orleans Pelicans Prediction, 12/26/2024 Preview and Pick

Game: Houston Rockets vs New Orleans Pelicans

Date: Thursday, December 26, 2024

Location: Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, LA

TV: Gulf Coast Sports

The New Orleans Pelicans (5-25) will play the Houston Rockets (19-9) at Smoothie King Center on Thursday.

The Rockets faced off with the Raptors and took home the win by a score of 114-110 in their last contest. Houston finished having earned a 44.9% field goal percentage (40 of 89) and buried 7 of 28 shots from beyond the perimeter. At the charity stripe, the Rockets converted 27 of 33 attempts for a percentage of 81.8%. Regarding getting rebounds, they collected 53 with 18 of them being of the offensive sort. They also distributed 18 assists for this game in addition to forcing 21 turnovers and earning 12 steals. When talking about defending, Houston allowed their opponent to shoot 45.7% from the floor on 42 of 92 shooting. Toronto distributed 33 assists and had 10 steals in this game. In addition, Toronto grabbed 42 rebounds (11 offensive, 31 defensive) and added 6 blocked shots. Toronto finished the game at 69.2% when shooting free throws by knocking down 9 of their 13 attempts. They also knocked down 17 out of their 43 attempts from distance. With respect to personal fouls, the Rockets ended up finishing with 14 and the Raptors accumulated 25 personal fouls.

Dillon Brooks is one player who was a major contributor for this game. Brooks finished 50.0% from the field and distributed 2 dimes. He was on the court for 37 minutes played and totaled 6 boards. He recorded 27 points on 6 out of 12 shooting.

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Houston enters this game with a win-loss record of 19-9 for the season. They have an average of 112.9 pts per game (14th in the league) while going 44.2% from the field. The Rockets are connecting on 32.5% on shots from 3-point land (328 of 1,010) and 76.9% from the free throw line. As a team, Houston is collecting 49.2 boards per game and is sitting with 632 assists this season, which is 29th in basketball in terms of passing the rock. They are turning it over 13.7 times per game and as a team they are committing 20.2 fouls per contest.

On defense, the Rockets are forcing their opponents into 15.3 turnovers per contest and they draw 20.6 fouls. They are 1st in the league in giving up assists to the opposition with 622 relinquished on the campaign. The Rockets defensively are allowing a shooting percentage of 43.5% (1,081 of 2,483) and they concede 43.6 boards per contest as a team. They surrender 34.7% on shots from distance while they are 3rd in basketball in opponents points per game (106.5).

The last time they took the hardwood, the Pelicans took a loss by a final score of 132-129 when they faced the Nuggets. The Pelicans recorded 34 defensive boards and 9 offensive boards for a total of 43 in this game. They also turned it over 15 times, while recording 16 steals in this contest. The Nuggets committed 19 personal fouls in the matchup which got the Pelicans to the free throw line for a total of 23 shots. They were able to bury 17 of the free throw tries for a percentage of 73.9%. When it comes to shooting from downtown, New Orleans knocked down 12 of their 40 attempts (30.0%). When the final whistle blew, the Pelicans shot 50 out of 108 from the floor which had them at 46.3%. The Pelicans allowed the Nuggets to make 49 out of 97 attempts from the floor which gave them a percentage of 50.5% in this contest. They went 30.3% from distance by going 10 out of 33 and walked away from this one shooting 24 of 32 at the free throw line (75.0%). When discussing cleaning up the glass, New Orleans permitted Denver to collect 54 in total (14 on the offensive glass).

Jordan Hawkins ended up being important for the Pelicans for the game. He converted 9 of 18 for the matchup giving him a field goal percentage of 50.0%, and had 1 rebound. Hawkins earned 25 points in his 34 mins of playing time and accumulated 1 assist in the game.

New Orleans has a record of 5-25 so far this year. The Pelicans commit 18.4 personal fouls per contest and they connect on 75.7% from the free throw line. They are assisting teammates 24.0 times per game (25th in the league) and they turn the ball over 15.2 times per contest. New Orleans has accounted for 3,172 pts for the campaign (105.7 per game) and they average 43.1 rebounds per game. As an offense, the Pelicans are shooting 43.7% from the field, which ranks 29th in the NBA.

The Pelicans on the defensive side of the court are 25th in basketball in points given up per game with 117.2. They have forced 14.9 TO's every game and allow teams to shoot 48.6% from the floor (29th in the league). The New Orleans defense gives up 37.1% on 3-point attempts (426 of 1,147) and their opposition makes 79.2% of their shots from the charity stripe. They have surrendered 28.8 dimes and 45.7 boards on a nightly basis, which ranks them 28th and 26th in basketball.

Who will win tonight's NBA game against the spread?

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Houston

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