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The New Orleans Pelicans host the Utah Jazz Friday night! It's time to continue our NBA odds series with a Jazz-Pelicans prediction and pick.
Utah is on a roll since the All-Star break. They have won four of their last five games and seem to be back on track. Covid-19 and other injuries forced Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert to miss a ton of games. Now that they are back, the Jazz are rising up the Western Conference standings. Utah is (39-22) on the season which is good for 4th in the West.
The New Orleans Pelicans are coming off a huge win over the Sacramento Kings where they beat them by 30. New Orleans currently owns the 10th seed in the West with a (26-36) record. A win tonight would put them just a half-game behind the struggling Los Angeles Lakers for the 9th seed.
Here are the Jazz-Pelicans NBA odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
NBA Odds: Jazz-Pelicans Odds
Utah Jazz: -4 (-110)
New Orleans Pelicans: +4 (-110)
Over: 222.5 (-110)
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Under: 222.5 (-110)
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Why The Jazz Could Cover The Spread
The Jazz are coming off a decent performance over the Houston Rockets last time out. They won 132-127 but the Rockets took them to overtime before the Jazz could finally pull away. The Jazz had a 13-point lead going into halftime but allowed 64 points in the second half to force overtime. The Jazz can not let that happen again tonight as the Pelicans are better than the Rockets, but not by a big margin. Donovan Mitchell scored 37 in the win and Gobert scored 27 with 17 rebounds. That is the kind of Gobert that gets Defensive Player of the Year honors and is one of the best rebounders in the game. They need him to do the same tonight as he faces a tough opponent in Jonas Valanciunas. JV scored 17 points in the win over the Kings and also grabbed 14 boards. This should be a battle of whoever can control the boards tonight. If Mitchell, Gobert, and Mike Conley are all on their game, the Jazz should win this game on the road.
Why The Pelicans Could Cover The Spread
New Orleans really needs this win to improve their playoff chances. With the Lakers struggling, the Pelicans can jump them with a few more wins. They need Brandon Ingram to keep playing well again tonight. He scored 33 in the win over the Kings as he shot 15-19. That kind of performance is rare but if he can play even a little bit worse than that, then the Pelicans will start winning more games. With the addition of CJ McCollum and the eventual return of Zion Williamson, this team has a load of talent. As for covering this spread, the Pelicans must contain Mitchell and JV needs to make sure Gobert doesn't control the boards. McCollum only scored 17 off 7-16 shooting last game so they will need to see more production out of him tonight.
Final Jazz-Pelicans Prediction & Pick
I like the Jazz to cover this spread on the road here tonight. Utah is (17-12) away from home while the Pelicans are (14-17) from home. The Jazz are the favorites and that is the right call. Expect them to get past the Pelicans tonight, despite the fact that New Orleans is playing well also.
Final Jazz-Pelicans Pick: Jazz -4 (-110)
