Tip-off: Monday, 8:00 p.m. ET
Line: N/A, Total: N/A

A depleted New Orleans Pelicans club hosts one of the best teams from the Eastern Conference, the Toronto Raptors, this Monday night.

The Raptors continue to sit near the top of the Eastern Conference as they have grabbed SU victories in 10 of their past 13 contests (6-7 ATS). They open their second half with a four-game road trip and had a tough first two matchups when they first were able to get a nice 105-80 win as 5.5-point underdogs against Atlanta last Friday. Unfortunately, they were never in line to contend in their game against the Rockets in their most recent contest on Saturday, when they lost 98-76 as two-point ‘dogs and shot a putrid 32.5% from the field. Toronto was dominated in all aspects of the sloppy game in which each team turned the ball over 23 times as it was outrebounded 52-39 and had nine of its shots blocked. New Orleans has been all over the place this year and just pushed its record over .500 with a victory on Saturday night; the first in its last five attempts. In their past five contests, the offense has averaged a mere 90.0 PPG as they are 1-4 ATS and have taken losses by an average of 15.8 PPG. The Pelicans most recent bout came against the Miami Heat on Saturday night and they were able to win by a score of 105-91 as 2.5-point underdogs behind 17 forced turnovers. The team shot just 35-of-83 (42%) in the victory but the solid defense was the difference in the 14-point win. The Raptors have done a solid job when they hit the road and overall are 16-9 SU (14-10-1 ATS) in away games as they face a New Orleans group which is a solid 17-10 SU (15-11-1 ATS) at home. These clubs already met once on the year and it was a close one as the Pelicans were 95-93 victors on the road as big 11-point underdogs. It was a solid showing by the young New Orleans group as they got out to a nice 50-36 lead at halftime and held off a late surge from Toronto behind 47.6% shooting as a team. Before that it was all Raptors in this series as they had won the previous six meetings by an average of 8.5 PPG and were 5-0-1 ATS. Trends show us that Toronto is 14-4 ATS (78%) after having won three of its last four games this season as the Pelicans have gone 15-5 ATS (75%) after failing to cover two of their last three games ATS on the year. On the injury front, the Raptors have SG Louis Williams (Ankle) as questionable while the omissions on New Orleans side are much more devastating. PF Anthony Davis (Shoulder) and PG Jrue Holiday (Ankle) will certainly be out the next few weeks and PF Ryan Anderson (Knee) is out for at least a month.

Can the Pelicans beat the Grizzlies without Anthony Davis Monday? For the answer, connect to The Platinum Sheet for all the Expert picks throughout the entire 2014-15 season. StatFox Forecaster has a strong 55% ATS record (150-121-1) in featured games this season. In terms of Best Bets, the experts have a huge 65% ATS (51-28) record since Feb. 1, led by StatFox Brian who has a stellar 67% ATS (26-13) mark in Best Bets since Dec. 31, and is now 59% ATS (50-35) in season Best Bets. StatFox Scott is sizzling with a 67% ATS (30-15) in Best Bets since Dec. 21, improving his record to 58% ATS (49-36) for the season. StatFox Gary is also hot with a 61% ATS (23-15) record in NBA Best Bets since Jan. 1, and 57% ATS (48-37) this season. StatFox Zach is 63% ATS (24-14) in NBA Best Bets since Jan. 2, while StatFox Dave is 63% ATS (12-7) in NBA Best Bets since Jan. 28.

Toronto has had such a successful season due to its tremendous offense which ranks fifth overall in the league and first in the Eastern Conference with 105.1 PPG behind 45.4% shooting (13th in league). On the other hand, the defense hasn’t been at its best, allowing 100.3 PPG (12th-worst in league) as opponents make 45.5% of their shots (10th-worst in league). SG DeMar DeRozan (18.2 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 1.4 SPG) has scored in double-digits in each of the past 12 games, putting up at least 20 points six times as he comes off a rough performance (10 points) on 4-of-14 shooting against Houston. He wasn’t too efficient in the loss to the Pelicans back in January, making just 7-of-18 shots (39% FG) as he scored 22 points. PG Kyle Lowry (18.3 PPG, 7.2 APG, 4.7 RPG, 1.5 SPG) has taken a backseat to DeRozan since his return and has put up a mere 11.3 PPG on 16-of-50 shooting (32% FG) in his last four performances. He was a big reason that his club lost to New Orleans this year, going 4-for-10 with eight points as he added five rebounds and five assists. C Jonas Valanciunas (11.9 PPG, 8.6 RPG, 1.2 BPG) has been on the fence throughout the year with his coach, but has done a nice job on the boards (10.0 RPG) and as a rim protector (1.4 BPG) over seven February contests. He did little against this team in a loss this season with six points and seven rebounds.

Just like their record, the Pelicans sit near the middle of the pack with 99.7 PPG and 45.2% shooting. It is a similar scenario on the defensive end with opponents scoring 99.5 PPG against them behind 46.1% shooting (5th-worst in league). SG Tyreke Evans (16.7 PPG, 6.1 APG, 5.4 RPG, 1.2 SPG) will be playing a huge role with the other two stars of the team out and has been the primary ball handler without Holiday as he’s dished out double-digit assists in two of the past four games. He came up big against the Raptors in the last meeting, going for 26 points on 9-of-14 shooting as he added five rebounds, five assists and a steal. SG Eric Gordon (12.9 PPG, 3.9 APG) will get a ton of run in the near future and is coming off a 24-point, six-assist performance over 40 minutes on Saturday. He had a nice all-around game (14 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal) in the win over Toronto last month. PG Norris Cole (6.4 PPG, 3.5 APG) had a nice first game with his new team with 12 points, six rebounds, three assists and a steal over 30 minutes against his former club on Saturday. He faced the Raptors as a member of the Heat earlier in the year and did little (5 points, 3 assists) over 29 minutes on the floor.