I’m on the Under 229.5 in this matchup of New Orleans @ Atlanta Hawks for these reasons:

- Pelicans are 4-1-1 to the under in their last 6 away games. This is largely because they aren’t a good scoring team. 27th in field goal percentage, 24th in 3pt percentage, 26th in free throw percentage. This team just can’t shoot worth a damn. They only average 102 points per game , meaning that they aren’t likely to not score 100 points 80% of the time. This team truly needs Zion to come back, but he probably won’t this season.

- Hawks showed great defense in their last home game vs the Cavs who seemed unbeatable. They won’t have any issues putting the Pelicans on ice, especially with Hawkins and Brandon Ingram possible unavailable.

- Like I said, the Pelicans defense is god awful and they need to use their size and length defensively to have a chance here. The Hawks will likely try to dictate the pace , but the Pelicans getting blown out by 20 could still get us to the under of this high total.

Official Play: Under 229.5

Side Bet: Hawks -9.5

Hail Mary: Dejountay Murray over 5.5 rebounds