Two teams at opposite ends of the Western Conference standings matchup on Sunday night.
The pregame narrative: The Los Angeles Lakers are playing great basketball, sitting second in the conference standings. Meanwhile, the New Orleans Pelicans are in 14th and have lost 12 of their past 13 games ahead of tonight’s contest.
Check out my Pelicans vs. Lakers SGP picks for Nov. 30, featuring Austin Reaves and Deandre Ayton.
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Pelicans vs. Lakers SGP picks
Parlay: Lakers -10.5 | Reaves over 25.5 points | Ayton double-double (+510)
Lakers -10.5 (-182): First things first, LeBron James is out for this contest, managing a foot injury.
But that doesn’t deter me, as the Lakers are 10-4 without LeBron this season.
Not only that, but they are 6-2 at home and are currently on a six-game heater.
On the other side, the Pelicans are struggling. They are last in the Western Conference with a dreadful 3-17 record.
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They have a 1-8 record on the road and just played last night against the Golden State Warriors (a 104-96 loss for New Orleans).
So the Lakers hold the rest advantage and are at home, where they’ve been nothing but dominant.
When these two met in New Orleans earlier in November, the Lakers won by 14. They should have a repeat performance tonight with even more working in their favour this time.
NBA SGP legs
Reaves over 25.5 points (-120): Without LeBron in the lineup, the offence should run more often through Reaves.
He is a bucket, no matter who’s in or out, but one less big mouth to feed always helps.
- Reaves is averaging 28.5 points on 51.6% shooting (34.8% from 3).
- He has scored 25+ points in 11 of 15 games this season.
There is obvious blowout potential in this game, and as mentioned, I predict the Lakers to win big.
-> Back Reaves and Ayton on Sunday night
But I also think Reaves can torch the Pelicans’ defence in limited minutes.
That’s because New Orleans has the third-worst defensive rating in the NBA, while allowing the second-most points to shooting guards.
When the Lakers played the Pelicans on Nov. 14, Reaves scored 31 points while his team still covered a 10.5-point spread.
Ayton double-double (+118): The former first overall pick is finding his footing with his new team.
He’s been good as a whole, averaging 15.6 points and 8.4 rebounds while shooting above 70% from the field.
I want to focus on his last five games, though:
- 15.8 PPG
- 10.2 RPG
- Three double-doubles
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This is also a great matchup for Ayton to have a strong performance on the glass. The Pelicans concede the sixth-most rebounds to centres (15.63), per Fantasy Pros.
The big man is as traditional as they come, spending most of his time in the post, so there is huge potential for him as a rebounder.
Plus, he has recorded 10+ points in 13 of 16 games this season.
He could be in for a monster stat line against the Pelicans.
Pelicans vs. Lakers picks made at 11:54 a.m. on Nov. 30, 2025.
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Spencer is a true sports junkie. A graduate of the Sports Journalism program at Centennial College, he first joined NorthStar Gaming as an intern in 2023. He is now a contributing writer. He loves finding the edge to bet on in all sports but has a deep passion for the NBA and UFC. Previous stops include Sportsnet.