Denver Nuggets vs New Orleans Pelicans betting tips and predictions for Thursday’s NBA game on TNT. The Nuggets look to wrap up the regular season series vs New Orleans as the two teams clash for the 4th and final time this season. Read on for all our free predictions and betting tips.
Denver Nuggets
With back-to-back wins over Joel Embiid and Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic is back on top of the leaderboards when it comes to the MVP award. His Nuggets are flying high right now having won 4 games in a row and the number 1 seed is pretty much wrapped up with a 3.5 game lead and just 7 games remaining.
However, it’s important to remain focused the rest of the way and avoid complacency which could hurt the team further down the line. They open as 9-point favorites against the Pelicans tonight, which sounds like a lot with their 2 wins against them being by just 1 and 9 points earlier this season. Thankfully there are no injury concerns for head coach Michael Malone, so Denver has a good chance to improve on it’s 32-6 SU home record.
New Orleans Pelicans
New Orleans had a 5-game win streak snapped by the Golden State Warriors in their last game. The Pels led by as many as 20 points in that game, but just couldn’t close the deal as the Warriors won the final 2 quarters by 13 and 15 points. Despite the loss they remained in 9th place in the West with a 1.5 game edge over the 11th placed Mavericks, so it’s looking more and more likely the Pelicans will end in the play-in tournament.
There’s still no news on Zion Williamson, but if he is able to return before the postseason, whoever matches up with this team could have problems down the line. New Orleans has covered the spread in 6 of 8 games vs Denver on the road, but they’ve got just 2 wins in the last 9 meetings.
I’ve been impressed with the Pels lately, their only issue is they are unable to close teams out. With a 5-1 ATS/SU record in their last 6 games, I’m expecting another close game tonight which is why I feel like backing the road team is the way to go here. New Orleans to cover the big spread.
Denver Nuggets vs New Orleans Pelicans Predictions & Odds
We’ve seen quite a bit of defense in the 3 meetings between these teams this season, with an average of 219.6 points per game scored in those games. The O/U record is 1-2 in favor of the under, which is why we have a 231.5 point projected total for tonight. That number was exceeded only once in the last 5 Nuggets games and twice in the last 5 Pelicans games.
Speaking of the Pels, the under has been a popular bet in their road games lately with 7 of the last 8 cashing on that bet and 5 of their last 6 vs Western Conference opponents. For the Nuggets the under has cashed in 6 straight and in 12 of 18 vs Southwest Division teams. Head-to-head meetings have seen 9 of the last 12 finish under, so most of tonight’s metrics are pointing to a low scoring game and I’m going to trust those. Back the under.
