New Orleans Pelicans vs San Antonio Spurs betting tips and predictions for Thursday’s NBA game at Smoothie King Center. The Pelicans look to finally put an end to a 4-game losing streak as they host the Spurs following their win at Houston. Read on for all our free predictions and betting tips.
New Orleans Pelicans
It’s been a rough 10 days or so for the Pelicans who seem to be unable to stop this 4-game slide for some reason. The absence of Brandon Ingram has finally caught up to them, they are just unable to score buckets in the clutch and as a result their last 3 losses have been by 3 (in OT), 4 and 9 points.
They now host a Spurs team that’s ranked only 14th in the West, but over the last 10 meetings they’ve gone 5-5 SU with them, covering the spread just 4 times. Ingram is not yet expected back and the bad news just keep on piling. Larry Nance Jr. is questionable with an Achilles injury, while Zion Williamson is out for tonight’s game as he’s in quarantine. C.J. McCollum will be the only reliable scoring option here, don’t be surprised if he goes for 40 points on the defensively challenged Spurs.
San Antonio Spurs
Those Spurs have been a tough nut to crack over their last 5 games, winning 3 of them. Two of those wins were against Eastern Conference playoff teams in Cleveland and Miami, so the Pelicans won’t have an easy time handling them tonight.
Josh Richardson, Jakob Poeltl and Romeo Langford are all upgraded to “probable” here, which is exactly what San Antonio needs after their hard fought battle with the Rockets the other night. On the road the Spurs have just 2 wins in their last 10 appearances, against Western Conference opponents they are just 2-16 SU in the last 18 such games. Neither of the two meetings with the Pelicans earlier this season were close, San Antonio lost them by 19 and 18 points.
With so many injuries on their roster, the Pelicans could struggle a bit with their scoring. There has been a lot of promise on the Spurs side of things lately with 3 wins in their last 5 outings, they just destroyed the Rockets by 19 on the road. I have them keeping this game close, so let’s go with the road team and the extra points.
New Orleans Pelicans vs San Antonio Spurs Predictions & Odds
Both teams are trending towards the over lately with 9 of their last 11 games combined going over the total. Although the last 10 meetings are producing an average of just 218.5 points per game, the 3 most recent meetings are up to 223.6 points per game.
When it comes to pace both teams are in the top 10 averaging 102.3 and 103.2 possessions per game, that’s a clear recipe for a high scoring game if you ask me. The over has cashed in 4 of the last 5 Pelicans games vs Western Conference teams, plus they’ve cleared tonight’s projected total of 225.5 points in 3 games in a row. San Antonio has done so 3 times in their last 5 games, so let’s count on those trends continuing tonight and back over here.
