Los Angeles Clippers vs. New Orleans Pelicans – NBA, Thursday, January 13, 2022

The Los Angeles Clippers will take on the New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday night. This will be the third meeting of the season between the two teams, with the Pelicans winning the first two matchups.

It hasn’t been a great season for either team. Los Angeles is hanging onto a spot in the play-in tournament with a 21-21 record. Even with a 15-26 record, the Pelicans are only 1.5 games back of the final spot in the play-in tournament.

Here are the odds for the matchup via SportsBetting.ag.

Honestly, it’s hard for me to differentiate these teams for their betting trends. The Los Angeles Clippers are 19-23 against the spread. The only difference with the New Orleans Pelicans is one fewer loss.

New Orleans has been on a roll lately, covering in three straight games.

It’s a similar story for the over/under. This season, Los Angeles is 18-24, while New Orleans is 18-22-1. Los Angeles has gone under in three of their last four games, so that could be a trend for you.

Unfortunately, the Clippers are still dealing with COVID absences. Luke Kennard and Justice Winslow missed the Clippers last game and could be out for Thursday night’s matchup.

Let’s check out my preview for each team and see who has the upper hand.

It’s been a tough season for the Los Angeles Clippers. They came into the season knowing they wouldn’t have Kawhi Leonard for most of the season. Now, they’re without Paul George.

That has played into the Clippers struggling to gain momentum. They have been right around .500 the entire season. At this point, they’re a longshot to win their division.

In the absence of Leonard and George, many people want to know where the Clippers get their scoring.

Lately, the answer to that question is Marcus Morris. Morris closed December with five straight games of 20+ points. Check out his numbers in five games in January.

His pace has slowed a bit, but he remains their top option. The Clippers have also seen a big boost from Amir Coffey. Coffey played limited minutes with the Clippers in 2019-20 and 2020-21, but he has taken on a bigger role this season.

Coffey has played over 30 minutes in back-to-back games. He scored 18+ points in each game, knocking down eight of his 15 three-pointers. He also made his presence felt on the defensive end, recording four steals against the Denver Nuggets.

I should note that Marcus Morris didn’t play in either game.

In their second matchup with the Pelicans, Reggie Jackson was their best player aside from George.

Los Angeles desperately needs someone to step up on the offensive end. Only the Oklahoma City Thunder score fewer points than the Clippers in the Western Conference.

The New Orleans Pelicans have not performed close to their expectations. Even without Zion Williamson, the hope was Brandon Ingram could lead this team to the play-in tournament. Instead, they are 13th in the Western Conference.

Truthfully, the Pelicans aren’t as bad as people think. New Orleans had a disastrous 1-12 start, but since then, they’re 14-14. It’s nothing great, but it also shows they’re better than 13th in the Western Conference.

Part of the slow start was Brandon Ingram’s struggles in November. He averaged 19.2 points on 40.1 percent field goal shooting. Let’s check out his numbers in December and January.

With Williamson out of the lineup, this team runs through Ingram. His play is vital towards the Pelicans making a playoff run. Ingram has played a big role in the Pelicans victories over the Los Angeles Clippers, but he wasn’t their star. That honor belongs to Jonas Valanciunas.

In the first matchup, he had 26 points on 5-9 three-point shooting. He also added in 13 rebounds. Somehow, Valanciunas put up even better in the second matchup.

Valanciunas is capable of filling up the stat sheet. It’ll be interesting to see if the Clippers make an adjustment to slow him down. If not, he could have another big game.

The Clippers are missing a few of their top players, but can the Pelicans defense step up? They’ve allowed 115+ points in four of their last six games. It’s extremely tough to win when your offense has to score that many points.

Now that we’ve gone over both teams, it’s time for my betting pick.

Both of these teams are so inconsistent that I can’t confidently pick a side. However, I feel comfortable with the point total.

The Los Angeles Clippers and New Orleans Pelicans are bottom seven in points per game. I have more faith in the Pelicans offense, but the Clippers defense allows the fourth-fewest points in the Western Conference.

We saw 175 points in the first matchup and 227 in the second. Hopefully, we’ll see somewhere in the middle this time around.

The 2021-22 NBA season is in full swing, and we continue to put out game picks. Make sure you check out our NBA picks page.