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The New Orleans Pelicans hit the road to take on the surging Denver Nuggets Friday night! It's time to continue our NBA odds series with a Pelicans-Nuggets prediction and pick.
New Orleans is coming off a 10-point win over the Detroit Pistons last time out. That was their first win after four-straight losses and it seems like the Pelicans will continue to struggle. They are (19-32) on the season which puts them 11th in the Western Conference. The Denver Nuggets are playing very well as of late and are (28-23) on the season. The Utah Jazz beat the Nuggets 108-104 last time out to give them their second consecutive loss.
Here are the Pelicans-Nuggets NBA odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
NBA Odds: Pelicans-Nuggets Odds
New Orleans Pelicans: +6 (-110)
Denver Nuggets: -6 (-110)
Over: 224 (-110)
Under: 224 (-110)
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Why The Pelicans Could Cover The Spread
New Orleans should be relatively healthy besides the obvious absence of Zion Williamson. Brandon Ingram scored 26 points in the win over the Pelicans while five others reached double-digits. If the Pelicans want to cover this spread, they need Ingram and Jonas Valanciunas to play well. Those two are really the biggest threat to the Nuggets as Valanciunas will be going up against Nikola Jokic. This won't be an easy one for them to cover, but if they keep the game close early and potentially get out to an early lead then they can have a chance. The second unit for the Pelicans will also need to provide some scoring. These teams play for the third time this season as the Nuggets won the last meeting 116-105 off of Jokic's 29 points.
Why The Nuggets Could Cover The Spread
The Nuggets come into this game as the favorites at home. That is the right call as they are the better team and have been playing well lately (besides their last two games). Jokic and Joel Embiid led the MVP rankings right now as both of the top two centers in the world are leading their respective teams to winning records. As long as Jokic is playing well, the Nuggets have a chance to beat anyone. Aaron Gordon and Will Barton have been hot as well and those two will take a lot of the load off from Jokic. If Monte Morris and Bones Hyland can contribute enough from the backcourt then the Nuggets will cover this spread pretty easily. Jokic vs. Valanciunas will be exciting to see but if Valanciunas gets the upper hand somehow then that is not a good sign for the Nuggets right now. Denver is (17-16) against the West this season while the Pelicans are (11-17).
Final Pelicans-Nuggets Prediction & Pick
Take the Nuggets to cover this spread at home even though they are coming off two bad performances. The Pelicans have a chance to keep this one close but I think Jokic helps win this game by more than six.
Final Pelicans-Nuggets Prediction & Pick: Nuggets -6 (-110)
