Game 82: Rockets at Pelicans

2013/2014 NBA Season
	vs
33-48		54-27
April 16, 2014, 7:00 PM CDT
New Orleans, LA
FSNO, CSN Houston
Projected Starters
Tyreke Evans		??
Anthony Morrow		??
Darius Miller		??
Luke Babbitt		??
Alexis Ajinca		??
Advanced Stats (2013/14)
94.55 (22)	Pace	98.91 (5)
104.6 (14)	ORtg	108.6 (4)
107.3 (26)	DRtg	102.9 (11)

GAME NOTES

Rockets recall Covington, Canaan from RGV in time for NO tmrw. First step for them to have games Wed., Thur., Sat., Sunday, Monday, Tuesday.

— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) April 15, 2014

- Robert Covington and Isaiah Canaan are both rookies from the Rockets D-League affiliate, the Rio Grande Vipers.

- The Rockets are locked into a 4/5 matchup with the Portland Trailblazers. Houston will have home court regardless of tonight's result.

- The Pelicans have lost the first three games of the series by a combined 19 points. The Rockets have attempted 54 more free throws.

- In the last game against the Rockets, Monty Williams started Austin Rivers, Anthony Morrow, Darius Miller, Luke Babbitt, and Alexis Ajinca. Why not try Tyreke Evans at point guard with his most ideal lineup?

- The NBA Lottery is on May 20th. The Pelicans will have a 4% chance of keeping the pick with either a win or a Cleveland Cavaliers loss to Brooklyn tonight. The Cavs and Nets both have reasons to lose tonight. Cleveland for draft position, Brooklyn to avoid the Bulls (in case of a Washington Wizards win over Orlando, the Nets fall to the 6 seed and face Toronto).

- With the Rockets playing D-League players (and they'll play hard, but they probably won't play defense) and Monty's penchant to get effort out of his players regardless of the circumstance, Vegas has the Pelicans as 3.5 point favorites tonight.