Orlando at New Orleans
Time: 7 PM CT (NBA LP)
Spread: NOP -4.5
Total: 226
Odds c/o 5dimes
ORL TEAM NOTES:
Orlando has won its past three and is 5-5 over its last 10 games.
Aaron Gordon has come on strong in his past eight games to the tune of 17.1 points, five assists and 6.4 rebounds per game. The forward remains Orlando’s best player, or the most valuable in terms of trade assets, notwithstanding that Nikola Vucevic is Orlando’s lone All-Star. Vucevic is averaging 22.5 points and 11.9 rebounds over his last 10 games, and the Swiss native has come into his own this season, in what is a “contract season” for “Vooch.”
The Magic are still years away from feeling comfortable with Mo Bamba as its starting center, and it will have decisions to make regarding just how much money Vucevic should command (should he even be re-signed). Bamba recently announced he will miss extended time with a stress fracture in his leg, which only made it a near-certainty the Magic would not deal Vucevic—not if it is serious about its postseason chances, which are still very much alive.
The Magic have been perhaps most pleased with Ross, who is making a legitimate run at the league’s Sixth Man award. Despite only playing 26 minutes a game, Ross averages a shade under 15 points and shoots 37.7 percent from three-point range, which ranks No. 3 on the team. Vucevic is hitting 38 percent of his triples while attempting three per game. The Magic have shot 34.8 percent from behind the arc on 31.5 attempts per game.
DJ Augustin leads the team in three-point marksmanship with his 42.8 percent average on 3.9 attempts per game. Orlando is a much better shooting team than often credited for, with five players averaging over one three per game. Augustin, too, has been superb, but the Magic have not kept it secret it is hunting for a bigger, more long-term point guard. The Magic did obtain Markelle Fultz at the deadline, but he is a bit of a project and the Magic are in no hurry to rush his recovery.
NOP
New Orleans has lost seven of its last 10 games, but still lingers out of the Western Conference playoff picture seven games below .500 on the season. Patience is wearing thin in New Orleans, a team never able to perhaps maximize the immense talents of its superstar, Anthony Davis. Davis is fated to play the remainder of the season, with a heart that is no doubt already out of New Orleans.
Davis has been fantastically dominant, but while Jrue Holiday has had an outstanding season in his own right, this team seems several pieces shy of having what it takes to contend in the Western Conference. Because of that, a lot of blame has been assigned to Davis, whose eventual future may not be in the Bayou. The former Kentucky Wildcat is averaging 28.9 points, 13.2 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 1.8 steals, and 2.7 blocks per game while posting a PER of 31.3, but outside of Holiday and Randle this team just lacks some of the pieces it needs to compete with the top teams in the West.
Holiday is averaging 20.7 points and Julius Randle adds another 19.8. Nikola Mirotic has battled injuries but ideally completes a solid top-4. Where the Pelicans fall apart mostly is due to its lack of depth. After E’Twaun Moore, the rotation falls off to a number of players with glaring offensive deficiencies, from Elfrid Payton’s sheer lack of shooting to Tim Frazier’s inconsistencies, the Pelicans bench begins to relay the reasons this team cannot manage to sustain the strong play of its starting-5, bolstered, of course, by Davis.
A lot of the blame has fallen on GM Dell Demps and his numerous dubious decisions. While gambling on DeMarcus Cousins may have made enough sense at the time, the Pelicans really could use the player it dealt to obtain Cousins in Buddy Hield. New Orleans needs another premier perimeter threat, shooting, and it needs a “three and D” small forward (like Robert Covington?) in the worst way. Without adding these necessary pieces the Pels can still knock off mediocre teams like tonight’s opponent, but making any meaningful ascent will elude this roster.
