The Portland Trail Blazers have more players listed on their injury report than anyone right now, but they’ll be hoping to find a way to stay competitive against the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday. This is a revenge game for former Blazers guard CJ McCollum, who will be hoping to lead his new team to its sixth win in 10 games here.
Will New Orleans take care of business on the road? You’ll have to keep reading for our Pelicans vs. Trail Blazers NBA picks and predictions.
Pelicans vs Trail Blazers odds
This odds widget represents the best odds available for each betting market from regulated sportsbooks.
The Pelicans are massive favorites in this road game against the Blazers, as they opened as 14-point favorites and are favored by as much as 14.5 on one sportsbook. The total, which opened at 226, is up at 226.5 on some sportsbooks, but you can find it for as low as 225.5.
Use the live odds widget above to track any future line movements right until tip-off and be sure to check out the full NBA odds before betting to ensure you get the best number.
Pelicans vs Trail Blazers predictions
- Prediction: Pelicans -13.5 (-110)
- Prediction: Under 226.5 (-107)
- Best bet: Pelicans wire to wire (-164)
Predictions made on 3/30/2022 at 11:30 a.m. ET.
Click on each prediction to jump to the full analysis.
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Pelicans vs Trail Blazers game info
• Location: Moda Center, Portland, OR
• Date: Wednesday, March 30, 2022
• Tip-off: 10:00 p.m. ET
• TV: ROOT Sports Northwest, Bally Sports New Orleans
Pelicans vs Trail Blazers betting preview
Key injuries
Pelicans: Jonas Valanciuns C (Questionable), Larry Nance Jr. F (Questionable), Kira Lewis Jr. G (Out), Zion Williamson F (Out).
Trail Blazers: Trendon Watford F (Out), Greg Brown III F (Probable), Josh Hart G (Out), Justise Winslow F (Out), Anfernee Simons G (Out), Jusuf Nurkic C (Out), Eric Bledsoe G (Out), Joe Ingles F (Out), Nassir Little F (Out), Damian Lillard (Out).
Find our latest NBA injury reports.
Betting trend to know
The Pelicans are 11-2 against the spread in their last 13 road games. Find more NBA betting trends for Pelicans vs. Trail Blazers.
Pelicans vs Trail Blazers picks and predictions
Our side and total predictions are based upon our analysis of the line and total in this game. Our best bet is our favorite pick across all markets.
Spread analysis
In addition to being 11-2 against the spread in their last 13 road games, the Pelicans are also 4-0 ATS in their last four road games against teams with losing home records. New Orleans also happens to be 9-3-1 ATS in its last 13 games as a favorite, which shows you that the Pelicans do tend to handle their business in games they’re supposed to win. And with the Blazers missing nearly every key rotation player tonight, suggesting New Orleans should win this game would be an understatement.
Portland’s best player at the moment is arguably Drew Eubanks, who is averaging 6.9 points and 5.2 rebounds per game this season and was signed by the Blazers in early March after being waived by the Toronto Raptors. His running mate in Portland at the moment is former Arizona Wildcats guard Brandon Williams, who was undrafted in 2021. Overall, this team is just really lacking in talent at the moment, and it’s not like this squad is one of the better-coached teams in the league either.
The Pelicans, meanwhile, are playing some solid basketball at the moment, even with all the uncertainty surrounding the return of Zion this season. Brandon Ingram has become one of the more complete players in the league, and his play recently has been stellar. The forward has scored at least 26 points in five of his last six games, and he has also recorded at least five assists in seven of his last eight. Look for him to torch Portland in this game, with his length being something that the Blazers just can’t handle.
The Pelicans should also get a good performance out of McCollum here, as the guard will be comfortable playing in this building and he’ll also be eager to show Portland that it made a mistake in trading him.
Prediction: Pelicans -13.5 (-110 at WynnBET)
Over/Under analysis
The Blazers generally like to play at a fast pace, but they don’t have any significant players that were part of their early-season rotation. With that, it’s hard to imagine Portland being the team to dictate the pace in this one, and New Orleans doesn’t exactly like to play fast. The Pelicans are just 21st in the league in pace of play this season, and they aren’t going to want this game to turn into a track meet.
The Under is actually 12-3-1 in the last 16 road games that New Orleans has played, and it’s 19-7-1 in the last 27 games that the team has played as a road favorite. The Pelicans’ games have also gone Under in in their last 11 contests against teams with losing records, which just shows you another reason that New Orleans isn’t going to snap out of things and play fast here. Head coach Willie Green knows that his team needs to value the basketball and take its time on offense, and you can count on the Pelicans to do that here.
The team should also turn in a good defensive performance against a lousy Blazers roster tonight.
Prediction: Under 226.5 (-107 at UniBet)
Best bet
This is a bet that normally wouldn’t be easy to suggest, but the Pelicans really should take control of this game immediately and it’s hard to see them giving up a lead over spurts of 12 minutes. New Orleans is a -1,200 moneyline favorite in this game, which just goes to show you the difference in talent between these teams. You don’t often see a line like that on an average team playing on the road, but that is where these Blazers are right now.
Instead of laying significant juice on the Pelicans to win outright, why not take a shot on them having a lead at the end of every quarter? Normally, a hot start for the Blazers and a win in the first quarter wouldn’t be too out of the ordinary, but Portland could come out a little flat after having blown its last game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Pick: Pelicans wire to wire (-164 on FanDuel)
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