New Orleans Pelicans Open As Heavy Favorites To Prevail Over Charlotte Hornets

The New Orleans Pelicans are heavy favorites to record their third-straight win at the Smoothie King Center on Thursday, March 23,when they host the visiting Charlotte Hornets.

The Pelicans are -7.5 spread favorites to prevail over the Hornets, while the moneyline for this matchup is set at -322 for New Orleans and +254 for Charlotte per USA Today.

In their previous encounter last October, the Pelicans won over the Hornets, 124-112.

New Orleans is on a two-game winning run with their last win coming at the expense of the San Antonio Spurs, 119-84.

In that game, James Ingram dropped 32 markers and issued seven assists. Meanwhile, Jonas Valanciunas added 19 points and 15 rebounds in that win over the Hornets.

"JV, whether he scores or not, when he touches the ball in the post, he creates offense for us," Pelicans coach Willie Green stated after the game in a report by ESPN. "So there are times when we've just got to throw it down to him and allow him to operate."

The Hornets are also coming off a win, turning back the Indiana Pacers, 115-109.

Kelly Oubre Jr. led the Hornets in that win with 28 points, four steals, and three rebounds.

Backing him up was Terry Rozier, who had 23 markers and nine dimes.

"It's kind of backward when we people are commenting on how bad we played and when we lose they give up on us. But then when we win they say 'you're not supposed to win,'" Oubre stated via ESPN after the match. "So it puts us in an uncomfortable position. But we are going to continue to play hard every night... We're in the mind frame of setting up something for next year."

The Hornets will have to come out with the same kind of energy to cover the odds stacked against them.

Game time is set for 8:00 PM ET with the Pelicans vs. Hornets clash set to be shown over Bally Sports. Live streaming is also available via fuboTV.