Only 1 week is left in the NBA regular season. Every game is very important right now and on Saturday night New Orleans Pelicans will host Los Angeles Clippers. After 77 games, the Pelicans have 39 wins, and 38 losses and they are the 8th seed in the Western Conference while the Clippers are the 5th seed with 41 wins and 37 losses. In this game, I'm predicting that the Pelicans are going to cover the handicap.

At one point this season, the Pelicans were the best team in the Western Conference. It was followed by a massive downhill but now the team is climbing up. The Pelicans have won 6 out of the last 7 games. While the opponents haven't been the best, the point difference on most nights has been very big. 5 wins have been by at least 19 points. These kinds of wins motivate very well, especially right now when the Pelicans are trying to be at the TOP6 to avoid play-in games.

The Clippers have 4 wins and 4 losses in the last 8 games. The team lost to Memphis last night. Kawhi Leonard didn't play in the 2nd half but that was not because of injury but he simply wanted to play against the Pelicans so they didn't have any other choice than to rest him. Norman Powell and Eric Gordon could be question marks for this game though. Out of the last 4 wins, 2 have been on the road but those were against a tanking Portland and Memphis which was without 3 important players and Russell Westbrook had more than 30 points with more than 70% field goal.

If we look at advanced stats, the Pelicans have been one of the best home teams all season long. The team has just the 18th-best offensive rating (115.2) but they have the 5th-best defensive rating (109.6) which gives the 8th-best net rating (5.6). As for the Clippers, they have the 8th-best offense (114.5), the 19th-best defense (115.5), and the 9th-best net rating (-1.1). If we just look back at the last 5 games, the Pelicans have the 2nd-best net rating while the Clippers have just the 15th-best.

Teams already met last week in Los Angeles where the Pelicans won easily by 21 points. Kawhi Leonard struggled a lot as he made only 4 shots out of 16 while Brandon Ingram had 32 points for the Pelicans. Ingram has been on tier lately because he has 2 triple-doubles in the last 5 games. It is interesting that in both meetings this season the Pelicans have won by 21 points and New Orleans has won 8 out of the last 9 meetings overall which include 4 wins at home!

While Kawhi Leonard is a leader of the Clippers, other guys aren't so reliable. The Clippers are missing Paul George who's the 2nd-best player on the team. As for the Pelicans, they are in great rhythm as they are playing very well. I have full confidence in New Orleans and I'm expecting them to get another win. When having a 1 day of rest, the Pelicans have covered the spread in 56% of the games while the Clippers have covered the spread in less than 50% of the time on 2nd night of a back-to-back.

本译文使用有道机器翻译，仅供参考：

NBA常规赛只剩下一周了。现在每一场比赛都非常重要，周六晚上新奥尔良鹈鹕将主场迎战洛杉矶快船。在77场比赛后，鹈鹕取得39胜38负的战绩，他们在西部排名第8，而快船以41胜37负排名第5。在这场比赛中，我预测鹈鹕将会克服障碍。

本赛季鹈鹕一度是西部最好的球队。紧接着是一个巨大的下坡，但现在球队正在往上爬。鹈鹕在过去的7场比赛中赢了6场。虽然对手不是最好的，但大多数晚上的分差都很大。其中5场胜利至少领先19分。这样的胜利对球队的激励作用非常大，尤其是现在鹈鹕正努力挤进前六，避免打内线比赛。

快船在过去8场比赛中取得4胜4负的战绩。这支球队昨晚输给了孟菲斯。科怀·伦纳德在下半场没有上场，但这并不是因为受伤，他只是想对阵鹈鹕，所以他们别无选择，只能让他休息。鲍威尔和戈登可能是这场比赛的问号。在过去的4场胜利中，有2场是在客场取得的，但这两场胜利的对手都是处于低迷状态的开拓者和灰熊，后者缺少了3名重要球员，而拉塞尔·威斯布鲁克全场得分超过30分，投篮命中率超过70%。

如果我们看一下高级数据，鹈鹕是整个赛季最好的主场球队之一。这支球队的进攻效率(115.2)排在第18位，但他们的防守效率(109.6)排在第5位，这使得他们的净效率(5.6)排在第8位。至于快船，他们的进攻(114.5分)排名第八，防守(115.5分)排名第十九，净效率(-1.1分)排名第九。如果我们只回顾过去的5场比赛，鹈鹕的净效率排在第二，而快船的净效率排在第15位。

两支球队上周已经在洛杉矶交手，鹈鹕队以21分轻松获胜。科怀·伦纳德表现不佳，16投仅4中，而布兰登·英格拉姆为鹈鹕队得到32分。英格拉姆最近状态不错，因为他在过去5场比赛中拿到了2次三双。有趣的是，在本赛季的两次交锋中，鹈鹕都赢了21分，而鹈鹕在最近的9次交锋中赢了8场，其中4场是在主场!

虽然莱昂纳德是快船的领袖，但其他人就不那么可靠了。快船失去了球队第二好的保罗·乔治。至于鹈鹕，他们的节奏很好，他们打得很好。我对新奥尔良充满信心，我期待他们能再赢一场。在休息1天的情况下，鹈鹕队在背靠背比赛的第2个晚上的比赛中有56%的时间覆盖了比赛的范围，而快船在背靠背比赛的第2个晚上只有不到50%的时间覆盖了比赛。