Pelicans vs Lakers: Injury Updates, Team News, Match Preview & Predictions

Match Details

Fixture: Los Angeles Lakers vs New Orleans Pelicans

Date & Time: Wednesday, 27th November 2019, 9:30 PM (Thursday, 2:30 AM GMT)

Venue: Smoothie King Center, New Orleans.

Preview-

Los Angeles Lakers:

Los Angeles Lakers will be looking for their 16th win of the season and their ninth consecutive victory, when they will travel to New Orleans on Wednesday.

The Lakers are yet to lose outside of Staples Centre this season although they have lost a designated away game on the opening night against Los Angeles Clippers at the Staples Centre. Their only other loss so far in the season came in a home against Toronto Raptors.

For the Lakers, LeBron James is currently leads the assists per game in the league with 11. He is also scoring at an average of 25.6 points per game. But the main talking point ahead of the game would be the return of Anthony Davis to New Orleans.

Having asked to be traded after making a name for himself with the Pelicans, Davis will be facing them for the first time. He could get a hostile reception, which he will have to be wary of. And the fact that he is coming on the back of a performance which is not one of his best one’s will not help his confidence in front of a jeering crowd. Davis has been scoring at an average of 25.1 points per game and has also contributed with 9.0 rebounds per game.

The bench for the Lakers has also had decent contributions with Kyle Kuzma and Avery Bradley, coming off the bench on most occasions, average 12.0 and 9.8 points per game respectively.

New Orleans Pelicans:

The New Orleans Pelicans’s plans at the start of the season were disturbed with an injury to Zion Williamson. They started the season with just one victory in the first wight games. A decent recovery since then has placed them  11th in the Western Conference with a win-loss record of 6-11.

For the Pelicans, Brandon Ingram has led in scoring and is eighth in the league with 26.1 points per game. He has also contributed an average of 7.2 rebounds per game. Jrue Holiday is third in the league in steals at 2.1 per game, 12th in the league with 7.0 assists per game, and second on his team scoring 18.7 points per game. Josh Hart averages 12.6 points and 6.6 rebounds per game, while Lonzo Ball scores 11.1 points per game.

The Pelicans still await the return of Williamson and will have to manage against a strong Lakers side on Wednesday.

Injury updates & team news-

Los Angeles Lakers-

Injuries: DeMarcus Cousins and Avery Bradley are out and Anthony Davis is listed as probable.

Predicted starting lineup: LeBron James, Anthony Davis, JaVale McGee, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Danny Green

New Orleans Pelicans-

Injuries: Derrick Favors will miss the game for personal reasons. Josh Hart & Lonzo Ball Are questionable. Zion Williamson and Darius Miller are listed as out.

Predicted starting lineup: Brandon Ingram, Kenrich Williams, Jaxson Hayes, Jrue Holiday, JJ Redick

Predictions-

It looks highly unlikely that the Pelicans will disturb the winning run of a strong Lakers lineup.