A Southwest Division battle is on tap between the Houston Rockets and the New Orleans Pelicans at 8 p.m. ET Friday at Toyota Center. Houston is 17-52 overall and 11-24 at home, while New Orleans is 33-36 overall and 11-23 on the road. The Pelicans are ranked third in the Southwest Division; Houston is ranked fifth.

New Orleans is favored by 5.5 points in the latest Rockets vs. Pelicans odds from Caesars Sportsbook, and the over/under is set at 229.5. Before you make any Pelicans vs. Rockets picks and predictions, you'll want to see what the SportsLine Projection Model is saying.

The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every NBA game 10,000 times and has returned well over $10,000 in profit for $100 players on its top-rated NBA picks over the past four-plus seasons. The model enters Week 22 of the 2022-23 NBA season a stunning 64-33 on all top-rated NBA picks this season, returning nearly $2,700. Anyone following it has seen huge returns.

Now, it has simulated Rockets vs. Pelicans 10,000 times and the results are in. We can tell you that the model is leaning Under, and it's also generated a point-spread pick that is hitting in over 60% of simulations. You absolutely need to see it before locking in your own picks.

So who wins Rockets vs. Pelicans? And which side of the spread is a must-back? Join SportsLine right now to see which side of the spread you need to jump on, all from the computer model that has crushed its NBA picks... If you're already a member, see the picks below!