Free NBA Pick: Pelicans vs Trail Blazers NBA Odds
Looking for New Orleans Pelicans vs. Portland Trail Blazers free NBA picks & NBA odds? NBA betting sees the Pelicans taking on the Blazers on Saturday, April 14, 2018 at the Moda Center in Portland, Ore. Cappers Picks provides complimentary expert handicapping picks on all NBA basketball matchups so stay tuned for more FREE daily NBA hoops predictions like this Pelicans Trail Blazers matchup.
(0-0) New Orleans Pelicans vs. Portland Trail Blazers (0-0)
Western Conference Playoffs – Round 1 Game 1
Date: Saturday, April 14
Time: 7:30PM EST
Venue: Moda Center, Portland, Ore.
NBA Moneyline Odds: off
NBA Betting Odds: Knicks -5.5
NBA Betting Total: 217
Live NBA Odds
Updated Sportsbook Bonuses For TodayClick here to view… NBA ATS Stats & Expert NBA Betting Insight for this game!
The Portland Trail Blazers and New Orleans Pelicans enter this postseason having nearly identical regular-season records and having split the regular-season series 2-2. And yet, none of that matters at this juncture.
What matters now is what comes next. Which of these teams can continue to exceed expectations? Which will get the biggest performance from its best player and face of the franchise?
Which team will win Game 1?
New Orleans Pelicans
The New Orleans Pelicans enter this contest having averaged 111.7 points per night in the regular season. That number was good enough to put this team in third out of 30 NBA teams.
On defense, the Pellies were far less impressive. They gave up 110.4 points per night, which was bad enough to put them in 29th place by season’s end.
Check out the free sports picks from Cappers Picks experts today!
In terms of defensive efficiency, New Orleans actually placed much better, landing in the No. 12 spot by giving up just 105.6 points per 100 possessions. How is this possible?
Pace. New Orleans ran the fastest pace in the NBA, which means even though they were playing solid defense all along, their raw points-per-game-allowed numbers look far worse than they actually are.
[dfads params=’groups=20599&limit=1&return_javascript=1′]
So the question then becomes: Are their offensive points-per-game numbers simply inflated by their fast play and propensity to create extra possessions. The answer is yes and no.
The fact is, New Orleans drops down to eighth when looking at offensive efficiency, as it scores 107.7 points per 100 possessions. But eighth place is still a solid number.
Just because the team drops when looking at offensive efficiency doesn’t mean it’s simply scoring because of extra possessions. This team is a better two-way squad than most give credit for, and the Blazers are about to find that out.
Portland Trail Blazers
The Portland Trail Blazers enter the playoffs having averaged 105.6 points per night in the regular season. That number was good enough for 16th in the NBA.
In terms of offensive efficiency, the Blazers barely budged from their raw per-game numbers. They posted 106.1 points per 100 possessions, which also landed them in the No. 16 spot.
Check out the free NBA basketball picks from Cappers Picks experts today!
On defense, Portland made a huge improvement this year. The team allowed opponents to score just 103 points per contest, which was good enough for third in the NBA.
In terms of defensive efficiency, the team took a slight dip down to eighth, but as we mentioned above for New Orleans, that type of drop isn’t so much a concern.
The Trail Blazers allowed opponents to score at a rate of 104.2 points per 100 possessions this season.
NBA Betting Trends:
- NO are 10-3 ATS in their last 13 road games.
- Over is 11-5 in NO last 16 vs. NBA Northwest.
- NO are 10-21 ATS in their last 31 Sat. games.
- NO are 10-3 ATS in their last 13 road games.
- Over is 11-5 in NO last 16 vs. NBA Northwest.
- NO are 10-21 ATS in their last 31 Sat. games.
- Favorite is 10-3 ATS in the last 13 meetings.
- Under is 6-2-1 in the last 9 meetings in Portland.
Free New Orleans Pelicans vs. Portland Trail Blazers NBA Prediction:
Out of all four Western Conference first-round matchups, this one has the strongest potential to go the full seven games. And we’re not waiting for the drama to kick in.
4* Free NBA Betting Pick: New Orleans +5.5
Not only are we picking the Pelicans to win this one ATS, but we’re projecting a huge game from Anthony Davis that leads New Orleans to a Game 1 upset Straight Up.
NBA Free Score Prediction: New Orleans Pelicans 110 – Portland Trail Blazers 107
If you’re looking for more NBA picks like this New Orleans Pelicans vs. Portland Trail Blazers matchup we’ll be providing 4* free NBA predictions on the blog during the entire 2017/18 NBA season, and check out our Experts for guaranteed premium & free NBA predictions!
CappersPicks.com has NBA Odds up on a ton of championship futures, and you will also find DAILY NBA lines up as well.