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Squaring off for the second consecutive game against one another, the New Orleans Pelicans will attempt to get back on track as they take on the Utah Jazz in the Salt Lake City. Join us for our NBA odds series where our Pelicans-Jazz prediction and pick will be revealed.
After a season-high seven-game winning streak came to a halt with an uncharacteristic 121-100 loss at the hands of the Jazz, the Pelicans now sit in a tie on top of the Western Conference with the Memphis Grizzlies with an 18-9 record overall. More specifically, New Orleans has compiled a 6-6 record away from home and will look to improve upon that this evening.
Believe it or not, before the 21-point beatdown on Tuesday, it was the Utah Jazz that actually entered play with a two-game losing skid but was able to string together a vintage team performance that had almost every player getting in on the action. The victory was much needed for Utah, as they stay within reach of the Northwest Division race and now trail the Nuggets for the top spot by 2.5 games with a 16-14 record.
Here are the Pelicans-Jazz NBA odds, courtesy of FanDuel
NBA Odds: Pelicans-Jazz Odds
New Orleans Pelicans: -1 (-110)
Utah Jazz: +1 (-110)
Over: 232 (-110)
Under: 232 (-110)
Why The Pelicans Could Cover The Spread
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Clicking on all cylinders, the Pelicans have simply been in their bag lately and are showing glimpses of why they could be a dangerous threat come playoff time. While New Orleans fans shouldn't be overly concerned after the team could not get things going in Utah 48 hours ago, the Pelicans cannot afford a repeat effort like the one they gave the other night.
For starters, the Pelicans have transformed into a formidable contender in large part due to forward Zion Williamson finally returning to full health. With the one knock on Williamson's game being his availability over the last couple of seasons, it appears that the former Duke standout is fully healthy to wreak some havoc on the rest of the league. Despite the loss, Williamson was effective like he has been with 26 points on 10/16 shooting including coming up one rebound short of a double-double on the night.
Outside of their biggest star on the roster, New Orleans needs to play a complete game on both sides of the floor and especially during critical moments of the third quarter. On Tuesday, the Jazz finished on an 8-0 run to go up by a whopping 20 points in entering the final quarter. Ideally, the Pelicans must avoid large runs by the Jazz that leaves the chance of winning and covering the spread in jeopardy.
Why The Jazz Could Cover The Spread
No doubt about it, it was a ginormous win on Tuesday for a Utah squad that has been surprisingly scuffling of late. In fact, the Jazz had gone down in defeat in eight of their previous eleven games overall prior to Tuesday.
When it comes to finding a way to cover the spread against the top squad in the wild, wild, west, the Jazz' best bet is to combat the Pelicans with another splendid defensive effort. In previous seasons when center Rudy Gobert patrolled the paint in Salt Lake City, Utah strived on their defense that usually remained near the top of the league statistically each season In year one without Gobert in the middle, the Jazz have been rather pedestrian thus far to start the 2022-2023 season as they rank within the bottom ten of points allowed with 115.3 surrendered each contest. However, Utah looked like the Jazz of old on Tuesday after limiting the Pelicans to 39% from the floor including a lowly 14% from three-point range.
Other than the fact that it will be extremely vital for Utah to not get lazy defensively, expect the Jazz to attack New Orleans abundantly in the paint. When the Jazz proved to be the aggressor in the first meeting between the two sides, Utah often did not settle for the contested jumper but instead took it to the rack to either create layup opportunities or get the Pelicans in foul trouble. The latter ended up being true, as it turned out that Zion Williamson was forced to sit out lengthy stretches of the contest due to picking up too many fouls. If Utah can find a way to keep NOLA on their heels, then watch out!
Final Pelicans-Jazz Prediction & Pick
The biggest thing to watch for in this one will be whether or not the Pelicans can string together more effective possessions and figure out a way to crack Utah's resurgent defensive presence. With the line currently sitting at near dead-even, it would be a wise pick to rely on New Orleans to bounce back in a big way and dig deep to take care of business.
Final Pelicans-Jazz Prediction & Pick: Pelicans -1 (-110)
