A look at three key numbers related to Saturday’s game at the Smoothie King Center between Houston and New Orleans (6 p.m., Fox Sports New Orleans, NBA TV, WRNO 99.5 FM):
12-5: New Orleans home record. The Pelicans are better in the Smoothie King Center than on the road in just about every area, but in particular in some of the effort and hustle categories. New Orleans is averaging 8.5 steals a game at home, but just 6.5 on the road, while its blocks average at home is 5.9, compared to 5.2 in away games. Most players fare at least marginally better in their home venue, but after a 48-point outburst Friday in a win over Dallas, Davis is averaging 31.0 points at home (26.5 on road). His 20/32 performance from the field against the Mavs gave him a home shooting percentage of 51.6 (49.8 on road). Davis’ aforementioned scoring average of 4.5 more points at home comes despite the fact that he’s actually averaging slightly more minutes on the road (37.3, but 36.8 in the Smoothie King Center). The five-time All-Star’s top three offensive games of the ’18-19 season have all taken place in the Big Easy (48 vs. Dallas, 44 vs. Oklahoma City, 43 vs. New York).
18: James Harden points in Houston’s season-opening Oct. 17 home defeat vs. New Orleans, a stark contrast to the kind of offensive numbers the All-NBA guard has been producing in recent weeks. The Pelicans were able to limit Harden to his second-lowest offensive output of the entire 2018-19 regular season in their 19-point victory, limiting “The Beard” to inefficient 6/15 shooting and just four trips to the foul line. Compare that the 35.5 points he’s averaging in the month of December, featuring 45.2 percent shooting from the field and 40.6 percent accuracy at the three-point line. Harden has taken 145 foul shots this month in just 13 games, an average of 11.2 free throws a night. New Orleans built a 71-54 halftime advantage on Oct. 17 and was up 101-84 through three quarters. Anthony Davis (32 points) and Nikola Mirotic (30 points) combined to go 24/41 from the field, while Julius Randle came off the bench to add 25 points. The Pelicans and Rockets have two more meetings later in the season, on Jan. 29 in Texas and March 24 in Louisiana.
29, 30: Ranking in bench scoring among the 30 NBA teams for New Orleans and Houston, respectively. The Pelicans average 29.3 points per game from reserves this season, while the Rockets are at just 27.0. For both teams, injuries have damaged the depth available; in New Orleans’ case, playing without Elfrid Payton and Mirotic has created a domino effect of elevating Tim Frazier and Darius Miller to the starting lineup, players who otherwise would be contributing for the second unit. Meanwhile, Houston does not have point guard Chris Paul (hamstring) and therefore has started untested wing Danuel House in each of the past three games, all home wins over San Antonio, Oklahoma City and Boston. Former New Orleans guard Austin Rivers was recently acquired to try to improve the Rockets’ depth and scoring punch.