Washington Wizards vs New Orleans Pelicans Prediction, 1/3/2025 Preview and Pick

Game: Washington Wizards vs New Orleans Pelicans

Date: Friday, January 3, 2025

Location: Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, LA

TV: Gulf Coast Sports

The New Orleans Pelicans (5-27) will play the Washington Wizards (5-24) at Smoothie King Center on Friday.

The Wizards faced the Knicks and walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 136-132 in their last contest. Regarding personal fouls, the Wizards ended up walking away with 22 and the Knicks racked up 14 personal fouls. They made 10 of their 40 attempts from long range. New York ended up going 92.3% when shooting free throws by knocking down 24 of their 26 tries. In addition, New York collected 43 rebounds (10 offensive, 33 defensive) and got 4 blocks. New York doled out 26 dimes and had 7 steals in this game. With regard to defending, Washington allowed the other team to shoot 52.6% from the floor on 51 out of 97 shooting. They also recorded 32 dimes for the game while forcing the other team into 15 turnovers and getting 7 steals. With regard to pulling down rebounds, they collected a total of 44 with 11 of them being offensive. From the charity stripe, the Wizards converted 13 of their 15 tries for a percentage of 86.7%. Washington ended the contest with a 51.5% field goal percentage (51 out of 99) and made 17 out of their 38 shots from beyond the arc.

Justin Champagnie is a guy who was a major factor in this contest. He ended up finishing with 31 points on 13 out of 15 shooting. He played for 45 minutes played and also collected 10 rebounds. Champagnie finished shooting 86.7% from the floor and also dished out 1 assist.

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Washington heads into this contest with a mark of 5-24 this year. They lose possession by turning the ball over 16.3 times per game and as a basketball team are committing 21.3 personal fouls every game. As a team, Washington is pulling down 44.0 boards per contest and has racked up 717 assists for the year, which has them ranked 28th in the NBA in terms of passing the rock. The Wizards are shooting 32.9% on shots from 3-point land (355 of 1,078) and 77.8% from the free throw line. They have an average of 108.4 pts per game (24th in the NBA) while going 44.2% from the floor.

On the defensive end, the Wizards are forcing 13.7 turnovers on a nightly basis and they draw 18.6 fouls. They are ranked 15th in the NBA in giving up assists with 820 relinquished for the year. The Wizards are giving up a FG percentage of 47.4% (1,280 of 2,700) and they relinquish 48.6 boards per contest as a team. They are giving up 35.9% on shots from downtown and they rank 30th in basketball in PPG allowed (122.3).

In their last game, the Pelicans took a loss by a final score of 132-124 against the Grizzlies. When it comes to how they cleaned up the glass, New Orleans allowed Memphis to grab 42 in total (9 offensive). They finished the game shooting 41.5% from beyond the arc by shooting 17 out of 41 and ended up shooting 31 of 35 from the charity stripe (88.6%). The Pelicans allowed the Grizzlies to convert 42 out of 89 tries from the field which had them at 47.2% in this contest. When the final whistle blew, the Pelicans ended up shooting 43 out of 96 from the floor which gave them a rate of 44.8%. In relation to 3-point shots, New Orleans buried 11 of their 38 tries (28.9%). They were able to bury 27 of them for a percentage of 93.1%. The Grizzlies committed 19 personal fouls in the matchup which got the Pelicans to the free throw line for a total of 29 tries. They also coughed up the ball 17 times, while getting 13 steals in the matchup. The Pelicans collected 33 defensive rebounds and 12 offensive boards for a total of 45 for this game.

Trey Murphy III ended up being important for the Pelicans in the matchup. Murphy scored 35 points in his 39 mins on the hardwood and totaled 4 dimes in the matchup. He buried 10 out of 21 in this matchup giving him a field goal percentage of 47.6%, and accounted for 3 rebounds.

New Orleans has a win-loss record of 5-27 for the year. When it comes to offense, the Pelicans are shooting 43.8% from the field, which is ranked 29th in the league. New Orleans has totaled 3,407 points for the year (106.5 per game) and they collect 43.2 rebounds per game. They are assisting teammates 24.3 times per game (25th in the NBA) and they are giving up possession 15.3 times per game. The Pelicans are committing 18.5 fouls per contest and they hit 76.3% from the charity stripe.

The New Orleans defense allows 37.3% from downtown (461 of 1,235) and their opponents are knocking down 79.7% of their free throw shots. They allow 28.5 assists and 45.8 boards every game, which ranks 28th and 27th in the NBA. The Pelicans on the defensive side of the court are 25th in the NBA in PPG surrendered with 118.0. They are able to force 15.0 TO's every game and have allowed teams to shoot 48.5% from the floor (30th in the league).

So what is Tonights Parlay prediction?

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

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