Pelicans vs. Mavericks Odds & Betting Predictions - February 22, 2025

Like this at +105 odds at DK (I have to play at Sleeper due to being in California). Projections have him at 4.94 assists but I personally have him closer to 4.5. In January he averaged 4.4 assists over 7.3 assist chances. In February he averaged 4.2 assists over 7.8 assist chances. Assuming around 7.8 assist chances tonight, he’d need to convert 77% to clear this number. Just sprinkling in a little at these odds.

PJ should be back tonight after a week off from the break and he was a full participant in the most recent practice. Dallas injury report: - AD out - Gafford out - Lively out - Powell doubtful They literally have no bigs besides PJ, so even though he's coming off an injury it wasn't that bad, he was able to walk off on his own during the HOU game. In games w/o Luka/AD, PJ is over this line in 15/23 games w/ 20+ MIN - AVG 12.9 RA on 19.9 pRA. In all 23 of those games, either one of Gafford or Lively was active and started, so this is the first game PJ will be active w/o any of the bigs. Two of the games w/o Luka/AD were against NOP - he recorded 16 and 22 RA on 30 pRA in both games. Just looking at Gafford's #'s in those two (Lively out) he had 14 and RA. NOP allow the most RPG to C on the season (17.09) and overall rank #28 in REB and #27 in AST. In the two games vs. NOP, PJ saw 22 and 19 REB chances, which was a +4-6 increase on his AVG RC line w/o Luka. When PJ see's 15+ RC in a game, he's over this line in 12/14 games w/ the only two misses against LAC/BOS who are bottom-6 in APG.

The Pelicans face off against the Dallas Mavericks tonight in their return to action following the All-Star Break. Dallas continues to survive while being extremely thin on the interior after injuries to Anthony Davis, Daniel Gafford, and Dereck Lively. This sets up well for Zion. Zion has been a wrecking ball when healthy this season. He is averaging 24.4 ppg in 28 minutes. He was even better over his last 10 with a 26.5 ppg scoring average. Without both Dejounte and Brandon Ingram, his scoring jumps and that’s a significant factor in this scoring rise of late. Without both of them he is right in line with that 26.5 average. Zion is extremely well rested for this one coming off the ASB, and I expect him to have fresh legs and put on a show.