NBA streaks – whether winning or losing – are bound to be broken. For better and for worse, the New Orleans Pelicans and the Atlanta Hawks saw their respective runs come to an end just recently.
New Orleans finally got on the win column by beating the Mavs on Tuesday, while Atlanta snapped its seven-game winning streak in a loss to the upstart Wolves on Monday. Who between the Pelicans and the Hawks, who are set to face each other this Wednesday night, will start a new stretch on a positive note? Let’s take a closer look at this upcoming matchup below.
After this, don’t miss out on the other hump day showdown with our preview for Clippers vs. Mavericks, where DeAndre Jordan will make his first appearance in Dallas since that infamous offseason free agency debacle involving these two mean-spirited Western Conference franchises.
[sc:NBAArticles ]New Orleans Pelicans vs. Atlanta Hawks Preview
Where: Philips Arena, Atlanta
When: Wednesday, November 11, 8:00 PM ET
Line: New Orleans Pelicans at Atlanta Hawks – view all NBA lines
Betting on the New Orleans Pelicans
[sc:NBA240banner ]The New Orleans Pelicans finally notched their first win of the season with a 120-105 win over the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday – the second of the team’s back-to-back contests against its Southwest rivals.
However, the Pels paid the highest of prices for the win, as they had to continue the game without superstar Anthony Davis after the first half, who left the game before halftime with a bruised hip. The early diagnosis is that Davis’ injury is not that serious, but the matter could still take a turn for the worse leading up to tomorrow’s match against the Hawks as the team awaits the results of further tests on the actual extent of the injury.
Still, the team’s supporting cast actually played its best all-around game of the season in spite of Davis’ absence. Ryan Anderson led the way with a double-double (25 points, 11 rebounds) as the Pelicans never trailed by less than 14 points in the second half after building as much as an 18-point lead in the first half.
Backup point guard Ish Smith also had a stellar outing by scoring 17 points and dishing out 12 assists, ultimately helping his team collectively convert half of their field goals (46-of-92) for the first time this season. The return of Omer Asik into the starting lineup was also a welcome addition for the Pels, who will need the Turkish seven-footer to step up big time in place of Davis for the foreseeable future.
And thankfully, New Orleans has had a pretty good record of late against Atlanta. The team has won four of the last six contests (SU/ATS) against the Hawks, with three of those victories coming from four trips to Philips Arena.
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Betting on the Atlanta Hawks
Despite managing to hit over half of their shots from the floor on Monday, the Atlanta Hawks couldn’t complete the monumental rally against the Minnesota Timberwolves, who held on for a 117-107 win behind Andrew Wiggins’ career-high 33 points.
The Wolves simply came out with a blistering start in the first half of Monday’s game, leading by as much as 34 points. The good news for Atlanta is that it wasn’t fazed by the daunting deficit, and even managed to grab the lead at 107-106 with a little under four minutes left in the game. But that was before Wiggins closed out the contest on a seven-point tear to seal to victory for Minnesota.
The mettle exhibited by the Hawks in that game once again proved that they are still scoring moving the ball efficiently just as they have done last season. They are still in the top five of the league’s standings in terms of points (fifth) and assists (second), mostly thanks to the consistent outputs from Paul Millsap and Jeff Teague.
Millsap had another complete effort with 22 points on 9-of-15 shooting to go with five boards, six assists, two steals and two blocks. Meanwhile, Teague shot 10-of-17 from the floor for his 24 points, and also dished out nine assists (albeit with six costly turnovers).
Although the Hawks’ offense is humming along just fine, the same cannot be said of their efforts on the boards this season. Atlanta averaging just 40.4 rebounds per game (28th in the league), which is likely the main reason why pundits are not yet sold on the team as one of the Eastern conference’s shoo-ins for another deep playoff run this season just yet.
Then again, it would be foolish to bet against the Hawks right now, who will more or less face an Anthony Davis-less Pelicans team up next on their own home court. Before the loss to the Wolves, Atlanta had won its last seven home games (5-1-1 ATS).
Writer’s Prediction
The loss of Davis proves to be too much for the Pelicans, as Atlanta cruises to a 96-89 victory.
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