Cavaliers vs Pelicans prediction NBA · Saturday, March 21
At a glance
The New Orleans Pelicans (25-46) host the Cleveland Cavaliers (43-27) on Saturday, March 21 at 7:00 PM ET at Smoothie King Center in NBA action. Final score: Cavaliers 111 – Pelicans 106. Before tip-off, the Basketlog model gave the Cavaliers a 68% chance to win: prediction correct. This season, the Pelicans are 16-21 at home and the Cavaliers are 21-14 on the road. Over the last 10 games: 6-4 for the Pelicans and 6-4 for the Cavaliers (current streaks: Pelicans W3, Cavaliers W2).
The analysis Model
The Cavaliers are favored, but the gap isn't huge. The model projects Pelicans 114 – 120 Cavaliers, a margin of about 5.8 points in favor of the Cavaliers and a total around 234 points. Expect a fast-paced, high-scoring game.
- The overall strength gap (-3.8 vs +4.3 pts/game) is the main factor.
- The Pelicans need to win the pace battle to stay in the game.
- The Cavaliers' offense (119.5 pts/game) is the more productive of the two.
- The Cavaliers' defense allows clearly fewer points (114.5 pts/game).
What tips the balance
Scenarios
Stat comparison Current season
CLENO
Top performers
Cavaliers
Donovan MitchellG · #4527pts / game
James HardenG · #110assists
Sam MerrillG · #510reboundsPelicans
Zion WilliamsonF · #125pts / game
Dejounte MurrayG · #59assists
Yves MissiC · #2110reboundsRecent form
CLENO
NO
Team comparison
| CLE | NO | |
|---|---|---|
| 43-27 | Record | 25-46 |
| 119.5 | Points scored / game | 114.8 |
| 114.5 | Points allowed / game | 119.3 |
| +4.3 | Adjusted margin / game | -3.8 |
| W2 | Current streak | W3 |
| 6-4 | Last 10 games | 6-4 |
| 21-14 road | Home / road record | 16-21 home |
| 64-18 (+9.5) | Last season | 21-61 (-9.4) |
| No | Played yesterday | No |
Injury report Cavaliers
Injury report Pelicans
Probabilities estimated by the Basketlog model from available public data. They are neither a certainty nor betting advice.