Celtics vs Pelicans Odds, Spread and Picks
- The Celtics are 4.5-point road favorites over the Pelicans on Saturday night
- Both teams will be playing the second half of back-to-backs
- See the up-to-date Celtics vs Pelicans odds and a lookahead at Saturday’s matchup
Both teams will be looking to salvage a win in the second half of back-to-backs when the Boston Celtics visit the New Orleans Pelicans at 7:00 pm ET Saturday at the Smoothie King Center.
The Celtics (25-25/9-15 road) had their two-game winning streak snapped Friday night by losing the Hawks in Atlanta 108-92. Boston has also won seven of its previous 10 games.
The Pelicans (18-30/11-12 home) lost to the Denver Nuggets 116-105 at home and are 5-5 in their last 10 games. New Orleans had its four-game home winning streak end.
Celtics vs Pelicans Odds
| Team | Moneyline | Spread | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boston Celtics | -198 | -4.5 (-114) | OFF |
| New Orleans Pelicans | +164 | +4.5 (-106) | OFF |
Odds as of January 28th at FanDuel.
The Celtics are 4.5-point favorites and a -198 pick on the moneyline. It was an inauspicious start to the first night in Louisiana sports betting history, as the Pelicans were dropped by the visiting Nuggets. New Orleans was just 2-3 ATS entering Friday night.
Celtics vs Pelicans Injury Report
The Celtics are heathy for this matchup.
The Pelicans could again be without their top two scorers in forward Brandon Ingram (ankle) and center Jonas Valanciunas (illness). Ingram has missed the last three game and Valanciunas has sat out the past two.
brandon ingram is an all star pic.twitter.com/yHezrruCnq
— ✰ (@tregoddd) January 28, 2022
Ingram is averaging 22.4 points a team-high 5.2 assists. Valanciunas is averaging a double-double with 18.3 points and 12.0 rebounds.
Guard Devonte’ Graham left with an apparent knee injury late in Friday’s game. Reserve forward Trey Murphy (health and safety protocols) is likely to miss the game.
Celtics Struggling Against The Spread
Poor shooting hurt the Celtics against the Hawks and dropped them to 23-25-2 against the spread this season, including 12-11-1 on the road. Boston shot just 34.9% (30-of-86) and made just 7-of-36 (19.4%) three-point attempts. Those struggles ATS have seen Boston slip way back in the Atlantic Division odds.
Jaylen Brown led the Celtics with 26 points and 12 rebounds. He notched his eighth double-double of the season.
JB comin’ in hot 🔥 pic.twitter.com/UNbfyRjVLE
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) January 29, 2022
However, Brown was just 9-of-22 from the field and 2-of-9 on three-point tries. He also committed seven of the Celtics’ 16 turnovers.
Jayson Tatum finished with 20 points but shot 5 of 17, including 2-of-8 from long distance. Tatum has scored 20 or more points in nine of the last 10 games but was averaging 34.0 over the previous three games.
The only other Celtics player to score in double figures was Marcus Smart with 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting. Smart was scoreless in 23:38 on Tuesday when the Celtics routed the Sacramento Kings 128-75 in his second game back after missing six games while in the protocols.
Marcus off the glass ➕1️⃣ pic.twitter.com/dr8GkoU0O1
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) January 29, 2022
The 53-point win was the second-largest margin of victory in Celtics’ history. However, Boston was just 2-of-16 (12.5%) from beyond the arc in the first half in Friday in falling behind 62-47.
Boston drew within one at 85-84 with 9:42 left but the Hawks answered with an 18-2 run to put the game away.
Pelicans Betting Outlook
The Pelicans are 13-9-1 against the spread at the Smoothie King Center this season but 22-25-1 overall.
The short-handed Pelicans eventually got worn down by the Nuggets after trailing just 50-48 at halftime on Friday. Denver stretched the lead to 86-78 by the end of the third quarter then moved in front by 16 points midway through the fourth period.
The Pelicans had six players score in double figures led by rookie Herbert Jones’ 19. That was his second-highest output behind the season behind the 26 points he scored Dec. 28 in a win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
HERB IS HOOPIN TONIGHT 🤑🤑🤑
📺: @BallySportsNO
📻: @ESPNRadioNOLA pic.twitter.com/ibWlh4Tgeq— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) January 29, 2022
Willy Hernangomez finished with 18 points and 16 rebounds. The rebounds matched a season-high as he notched his fifth double-double of 2021-22.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker also had 18 points. That came three nights after he scored a season-high 31 a loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.
Josh Hart added 16 points, Graham chipped in with 15 and Jaxon Hayes had 13.
Jaxson Hayes takes OFF ✈✈@PelicansNBA and Nuggets on NBA League Pass: https://t.co/L8Rrlv9ZoR pic.twitter.com/A9K4tjUf3U
— NBA (@NBA) January 29, 2022
The Pelicans made just 5-of-34 (14.7%) three-point attempts and shot 38.9% (35-of-90) overall. New Orleans did force the Nuggets into 21 turnovers.
Celtics vs Pelicans Prediction
The Celtics beat the Pelicans 104-92 on Jan. 17 to end a three-game losing streak against New Orleans.
Tatum led the Celtics with 27 points while Dennis Schroder had 23 points and nine assists and Brown also scored 23. Valanciunas topped the Pelicans with 22 points and 14 rebounds and Jones chipped with 16 points.
The Celtics are a hard team to figure as they play well one night and poorly another. With that in mind, let’s look for Boston to follow a bad performance with a good one.
The Pick: Celtics -4.5 (-114)
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John Perrotto has been covering and writing about sports for various outlets for over 40 years. His work has appeared in the likes of USA TODAY, ESPN.com, SI.com, Forbes.com, The Associated Press, Baseball Digest, and more. John is based out of Beaver Falls, PA.
