Will the Pels’ upswing continue?
The Houston Rockets welcome the New Orleans Pelicans on 07.02.2022 from 01:00. The guests from the “Big Easy” have recorded two wins recently and stabilised after four losses previously. The Texans, for their part, have just one win to show for the past six rounds of matches and are in last place in the standings in the West.
But the hosts can take heart from the fact that they won their only clash so far this season at home in the Toyota Center. It’s not a new pattern: NOLA have only won three of their past 15 matches in Texas.
Houston Rockets – Statistics & current form
The Rockets are bottom of the Wester Conference standings and a perennial flaw within coach Stephen Silas’ squad is their poor defensive effort: no team in the NBA allows more points per 100 opponent possessions (115.3). This shortcoming has been evident again in recent games.
In four of the last five games, at least 122 points were conceded! But at least Christian Wood is acting reliably. The centre delivered three double-doubles in the last four league games. In addition, the 26-year-old has the eleventh-best rebounding average in the NBA with 10.3 boards!
Houston, on the other hand, cannot rely on a home bonus: On the contrary, no team in the West has a lower win percentage than the Rockets at 33.3 percent.
New Orleans Pelicans – Statistics & current form
NOLA has admittedly slumped in the interim due to the loss of Brandon Ingram. Without the former Lakers player and 2020 All-Star, the Pelicans present themselves weakened, especially on the offensive end.
Ingram ranks first internally in both points and assists, highlighting his all-important role in the Pels’ forward play.
However, he has been available again for two games and in his comeback in Detroit he also scored 26 points, the best scoring output of all players on the court. With a double-double that followed, the MIP of 2020 was also instrumental in the success in the most recent game at Denver.
However, the Pelicans are generally a welcome guest away from home: they have only won nine of their 28 away games – only four teams in the West beat this meagre record in the away rankings.
Houston Rockets – New Orleans Pelicans Tip
For the game between the Houston Rockets and New Orleans Pelicans, betting on an away win by at least five points seems promising. Thanks to the return of Brandon Ingram to the NOLA squad, the visitors are now much stronger again.
The home side continues to be shaky and has the worst defence in the NBA. How weak the Texans are in defending their own basket was also evident in the last game against San Antonio. Against their neighbours from the Lone Star State, the Popovich selection suffered a defeat with a whopping 131 points.
