New Orleans Pelicans vs Houston Rockets Prediction, 3/13/2026 Preview and Pick

Game: New Orleans Pelicans vs Houston Rockets

Date: Friday, March 13, 2026

Location: Toyota Center in Houston, TX

TV: Space City Home Network

Toyota Center is where the Houston Rockets (40-25) will attempt to beat the New Orleans Pelicans (22-45) on Friday.

The Pelicans played the Raptors and walked away with a win by a score of 122-111 in their last contest. Regarding personal fouls, the Pelicans ended up walking away with 16 while the Raptors totaled 17 personal fouls. They buried 14 of their 44 tries from distance. Toronto shot 76.0% from the charity stripe by burying 19 of 25 shots. On top of that, Toronto grabbed 43 rebounds (14 offensive, 29 defensive) and added 5 rejections. Toronto totaled 20 assists and had 13 steals in this contest. With respect to defense, New Orleans allowed the other team to shoot 41.5% from the field on 39 out of 94 shooting. They also recorded 27 assists for this contest while forcing 11 turnovers and earning 10 steals. Pertaining to grabbing rebounds, they earned 49 with 10 of them being of the offensive sort. When they shot from the free throw line, the Pelicans converted 18 of 24 shots for a rate of 75.0%. New Orleans ended the game having earned a 51.1% FG percentage (45 out of 88) and buried 14 out of their 29 3-point shots.

Trey Murphy III is someone who had an impact for the contest. He notched 28 points on 8 out of 12 shooting. He played for 34 mins played and collected 7 boards. Murphy walked away from this one shooting 66.7% from the floor and earned 3 assists.

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New Orleans will enter this matchup with a mark of 22-45 on the campaign. They turn it over 14.3 times per game and as a basketball team are committing 20.0 fouls every game. As a unit, New Orleans is pulling in 44.0 rebounds per game and has totaled 1,685 dimes so far this year, which is 18th in the NBA in terms of passing the ball. The Pelicans are connecting on 34.5% from downtown (748 of 2,166) and 78.8% from the free throw line. They average 115.6 pts per contest (16th in basketball) while connecting on 46.5% from the field.

When they are on defense, the Pelicans have forced 14.6 turnovers per game while drawing 20.3 fouls. They surrender 34.9% on shots from beyond the perimeter and they rank 27th in basketball in points per game from their opponents (120.0). The Pelicans defensively are giving up and opponent field goal percentage of 47.5% (2,916 of 6,137) and they concede 45.5 boards per contest as a team. They are 29th in basketball in allowing assists to the opposition with 1,865 surrendered so far this year.

When they last stepped on the court, the Rockets took a defeat with a final score of 129-93 when they played the Nuggets. The Rockets recorded 28 defensive boards and 16 offensive boards for a total of 44 for the game. They turned it over 16 times, while recording 7 steals for this contest. The Nuggets were called for 15 fouls for the game which took the Rockets to the free throw line for a total of 14 shots. They were able to knock down 5 of the free throw attempts for a percentage of 35.7%. Pertaining to 3-pointers, Houston buried 4 out of 33 tries (12.1%). Overall, the Rockets ended up shooting 42 out of 97 from the field which had them at 43.3%. The Rockets allowed the Nuggets to knock down 48 out of their 87 tries from the field which gave them a rate of 55.2% in this matchup. They wrapped up this game 53.1% from behind the 3-point line by hitting 17 of 32 and finished the game at 16 of 22 at the charity stripe (72.7%). With respect to how they attacked the glass, Houston permitted Denver to pull down 42 in total (8 offensive).

Amen Thompson ended up being a factor for the Rockets in the matchup. Thompson racked up 16 points in his 30 mins on the court and totaled 4 dimes for this game. He made 8 of 14 for this game giving him a rate of 57.1%, and had 5 rebounds.

Houston has a mark of 40-25 this season. The Rockets are committing 18.6 fouls per contest and they go 75.9% from the free throw line. Their rate of earning assists is at 24.7 times per game (27th in the NBA) and they lose possession by turning the ball over 15.7 times per contest. Houston has earned 7,426 pts for the season (114.2 per game) and they grab 48.2 boards per contest. As an offense, the Rockets are shooting 47.5% from the field, which has them ranked 9th in basketball.

The Rockets on defense are ranked 4th in the league in points given up per game with 110.0. They are forcing 13.5 TO's every game and have let teams shoot 45.9% from the floor (7th in the NBA). The Houston defense gives up 35.2% on shots from beyond the arc (807 of 2,294) and their opponents are connecting on 75.2% of their shots from the free throw line. They surrender 24.7 dimes and 39.6 rebounds per contest, which ranks 4th and 2nd in the NBA.

So what is Tonights Parlay prediction?

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

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