The New Orleans Pelicans snapped their season-opening four-game losing streak with consecutive wins at home over the Sacramento Kings and Atlanta Hawks, and now they will head on the road to play a surprisingly-undefeated Memphis Grizzlies team that has played at home just twice in lieu of their 6-0 start, scoring at least 123 points in each of those home games.
The Grizzlies haven’t played with a ton of pace, but they’ve been highly productive, leading the league in scoring, while sitting second in efficiency and top-five in effective field goal percentage. On the other side, the Pelicans play at one of the fastest paces in the NBA, sitting second in possessions per game. They scored at least 120 points in their two wins, and they’ve even produced in their losses, scoring 120 and 119 out of the gates, as well as 126 points in regulation at Denver in New Orleans’ third game of the season.
New Orleans doesn’t shoot a ton of threes, which is a concern when betting overs in the NBA, but there should be plenty of pace in this game, and the Grizzlies NBA-leading three-point percentage could make up for the Pelicans’ lack of perimeter presence. In a pace-up game with one of the most efficient teams in the league, points should be aplenty in Memphis on Monday night.
Pelicans vs Grizzlies prediction: Over 235.5 (-110) at the time of publishing. Playable to 237.
