There's no board posted yet, so the real question is availability. Whether Poole and Murray are back on Saturday changes the look of this game more than anything in either team's last 5. If both sit again, New Orleans is asking the same short rotation that just put up 132 on Sacramento to do it again against a team that can score.
Both defenses are the weak spot. Before Cleveland, Atlanta gave up 121, 120 and 129 in 3 straight games. New Orleans has allowed 120 or more in 4 of its 5. The one exception was a 104-91 loss to Denver where the offense died, which is no comfort either. Neither team has shown it can get stops for 4 quarters. Expect this to be decided by which team's offense keeps going late, not by which defense steps up.
Both teams are thin up front, and for a long time. Atlanta lost Henri Veesaar to a torn right ACL that's expected to cost him the season, and Mouhamed Gueye had surgery on a fractured left foot. New Orleans has Missi out for an extended stretch with a left knee bone bruise. Without much size on either side, this one probably gets played small and fast, with guards attacking a short frontcourt.
Atlanta should come in the healthier team. If it plays the way it did in the last 3 quarters against Cleveland, it's the better team on paper too. The Pelicans' case is that they've been close in every game but the Denver blowout and just showed they can score without their best guards. That makes this a better game than 2 teams with a combined 4-7 record usually are, and the injury report will tell you most of what you need to know before tipoff at 6:00 PM CT.