Partner Content | Pelicans vs. Raptors picks and odds Feb. 23: Betting lines, prop bets and predictions
Coming out of the all-star break, the Toronto Raptors host the New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday night.
The pregame narrative: If he plays starter’s minutes, Jakob Poeltl should be a rebounding force for Toronto. Also, both teams should put up a solid volume of points — especially if CJ McCollum makes use of his plus matchup from deep.
Check out our Pelicans vs. Raptors picks for February 23.
NBA odds as of 3:05 p.m. on 02/22/2023.
Pelicans vs. Raptors picks
Best Bet : Poeltl over 7.5 rebounds (-115)
The minutes and usage rates for Poeltl have climbed exponentially since Toronto brought him back at the trade deadline, and he’s been in the starting lineup after coming off the bench in his debut.
We don’t expect an improvement on his 30-point, nine-rebound effort right before the break, but it’s a good sign of how the team feels about its new starting centre. In that game, Poeltl played a season-high 37 minutes to help the Raptors earn a victory.
If he plays in the 30-minute range on a nightly basis, Poeltl should have a good chance of clearing this prop more often than not. After all, he averaged 9.0 rebounds over 26.1 minutes per game with the Spurs before the trade.
Also, Poeltl has gone over this line in five of his past six matchups against the Pelicans. All of those came donning a San Antonio uniform, mind you, but they were also all within the past two seasons.
Key stat: In its past 10 games, New Orleans has allowed 18 players to record eight or more rebounds in a game (with at least one opposing player grabbing eight-plus boards in each of those contests).
Quick picks
Over 225.5 points (-109) : The Pelicans play fast and loose on the road, averaging 101.4 possessions per game (seventh in the NBA). Unsurprisingly, the over is 18-11 (62.1%) in Pelicans road games, which is the fifth-highest rate in the league.
Together, Toronto and New Orleans have hit the over in 55.9% of their games (66 of 118), which is why we’re interested in the over for Thursday. Also, these teams combined for 234 points in their previous meeting this season.
Zion Williamson scored 33 points in that game, and he won’t be available for this one. But that concern is largely offset by the presence of McCollum, who was absent for that November matchup.
McCollum over 2.5 threes (-113) : McCollum is the Pelicans’ top 3-point shooter, and he should fare well in Thursday’s matchup against the Raptors.
Toronto’s opponents are shooting 37.1% from beyond the arc this year, which is the third-highest rate in the NBA. Four of its past five foes have had at least one player sink three or more 3-pointers.
McCollum has accomplished that feat in 28 of 52 games (53.8%) this season, including three of his past four. For someone averaging better than 2.5 threes per game in each of his past four seasons, this is appropriate value.
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