New Orleans Pelicans vs Cleveland Cavaliers Prediction, 12/23/2025 Preview and Pick

Game: New Orleans Pelicans vs Cleveland Cavaliers

Date: Tuesday, December 23, 2025

Location: Rocket Arena in Cleveland, OH

TV: FanDuel Sports Network

The New Orleans Pelicans (7-22) are on their way to Rocket Arena on Tuesday where they will attempt to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers (15-14).

The Pelicans took the court against the Pacers and went home with a win by a final score of 128-109 in their last contest. When talking about personal fouls, the Pelicans walked away with 23 and the Pacers recorded 19 personal fouls. They also knocked down 8 out of their 42 shots from distance. Indiana ended up shooting 70.0% from the charity stripe by converting 21 of their 30 tries. In addition, Indiana collected 42 boards (11 offensive, 31 defensive) and added 6 blocked shots. Indiana doled out 16 assists and had 7 steals in this game. Regarding the defense, New Orleans let their opponent shoot 42.6% from the floor on 40 out of 94 shooting. They also doled out 22 assists for this game while forcing 11 turnovers and earning 8 steals. In the matter of pulling down rebounds, they earned 49 with 6 of them being offensive. When they shot from the free throw line, the Pelicans converted 29 of their 34 shots for a rate of 85.3%. New Orleans ended with a 52.9% field goal percentage (45 out of 85) and made 9 of 27 3-point attempts.

Zion Williamson is one guy who was a contributor in this matchup. Williamson ended up going 64.3% from the floor and distributed 1 assist. He played 23 mins played and grabbed 7 rebounds. He walked away with 29 points on 9 out of 14 shooting.

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New Orleans steps onto the hardwood with a win-loss record of 7-22 for the season. They are turning it over 14.6 times per contest and as a squad are committing 20.8 fouls per game. As a unit, New Orleans is snagging 43.1 boards per game and has accumulated 718 assists so far this year, which ranks 18th in the NBA in terms of passing. The Pelicans are connecting on 34.5% from downtown (316 of 915) and 79.0% from the charity stripe. They have an average of 115.3 pts per game (18th in the league) while shooting 46.5% from the field.

When they are on defense, the Pelicans are forcing 15.4 turnovers per contest and they draw 21.2 fouls. They are conceding 35.5% on shots from distance while they are 28th in the NBA in points per game allowed (122.5). The Pelicans are giving up a shooting percentage of 48.9% (1,280 of 2,617) and they surrender 44.9 rebounds per game as a team. They are currently ranked 30th in basketball in giving up assists to their opponents with 836 surrendered this season.

In their last game, the Cavaliers walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 136-125 against the Bulls. Concerning cleaning the glass, Cleveland permitted Chicago to collect 48 in all (13 on the offensive side). They finished shooting 38.3% from beyond the perimeter by hitting 18 of 47 and ended up shooting 12 out of 15 at the free throw line (80.0%). The Cavaliers permitted the Bulls to convert 53 of 102 tries from the field which gave them a rate of 52.0% in this game. When the final whistle blew, the Cavaliers finished 48 out of 101 from the floor which had them shooting 47.5%. With regard to shooting from downtown, Cleveland made 14 of 39 attempts (35.9%). They were able to convert 15 of those for a percentage of 78.9%. The Bulls earned 24 fouls in this contest which took the Cavaliers to the charity stripe for a total of 19 tries. They also turned it over 18 times, while getting 3 steals for the game. The Cavaliers were able to corral 33 defensive boards and 13 offensive boards totaling 46 in this contest.

Darius Garland ended up being a major contributor for the Cavaliers for the matchup. Garland accumulated 35 points in his 33 mins on the court and added 8 dimes for the contest. He buried 13 of 27 for this contest giving him a rate of 48.1%, and had 2 rebounds.

Cleveland has a mark of 15-14 on the campaign. The Cavaliers have committed 21.3 personal fouls per contest while shooting 77.4% from the free throw line. They are earning an assist 26.9 times per game (10th in the league) and they turn it over 14.0 times per contest. Cleveland has accounted for 3,441 pts on the campaign (118.7 per game) and they snag 44.8 rebounds per game. As an offense, the Cavaliers are connecting on 45.7% from the field, which has them ranked 23rd in the NBA.

The Cleveland defense surrenders 36.7% on shots from distance (387 of 1,054) and their opponents are making 79.6% of their shots from the charity stripe. They surrender 27.2 dimes and 45.3 rebounds per contest, which is ranked 21st and 22nd in the league. The Cavaliers on defense are ranked 19th in the league in points given up per game with 117.0. They are forcing 16.2 turnovers on a nightly basis and allow teams to shoot 46.7% from the floor (14th in basketball).

So what is Tonights Parlay prediction?

Parlay's Pundit's Pick: Take Cleveland and under the total points

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