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The San Antonio Spurs will pay a visit to Smoothie King Center to take on the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday. With that said, it’s a good time to check out our NBA odds series, which includes our Spurs–Pelicans prediction, odds, and pick we have laid out below.
San Antonio is coming off a 133-96 win over the Portland Trail Blazers last Wednesday. The Spurs were led by a pair of 28-point outings for All-Star guard Dejounte Murray and Keldon Johnson. Devin Vassell and Jakob Poeltl added 16 points each, while Josh Richardson scored 15 points as five total Spurs scored in double-figures.
Meanwhile, the Pelicans had a huge win over the slumping Chicago Bulls in their most recent outing. Devonte Graham scored a season-high 30 points on 8-of-12 shooting, to go along with five 3-pointers. CJ McCollum also added 25 points.
San Antonio and New Orleans faced off just two Fridays ago, which saw the Pelicans come out on top convincingly, 124-91. The Spurs still lead the season series 2-1 as they won the first two outings, both by double-digits.
Here is how FanDuel has set the Spurs–Pelicans NBA odds for this Saturday NBA matchup.
NBA odds: Spurs–Pelicans Odds
San Antonio Spurs: +5.5 (-108)
New Orleans Pelicans: -5.5 (-112)
Over: 233.5 (-110)
Under: 233.5 (-110)
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Why the Spurs could cover the spread
It's a pretty thin spread, considering all Spurs-Pelicans games so far this season have resulted in double-digit outcomes, especially the most recent one. Nonetheless, Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich will likely have something up his sleeve to make adjustments from March 18's 33-point loss.
The Spurs are an even 36-36 against the spread this season, which makes betting on them tricky. On the season, they have a point differential of minus-0.5, which means they are capable of keeping games close. But that hasn't been the case this season against the Pelicans, where the average margin of victory is 19.3 points.
Brandon Ingram is questionable for New Orleans due to right hamstring soreness. He hasn't suited up for the Pelicans in nine straight games. So that's one less star San Antonio needs to worry about on Saturday should he continue to sit out. It doesn't help, however, that San Antonio has Lonnie Walker (back tightness) and Doug McDermott (ankle) out for Saturday. In addition, Devin Vassell could miss the game due to a sore right achilles.
Why the Pelicans could cover the spread
Meanwhile, the Pelicans must be feeling good entering this game since they pummeled the Spurs in San Antonio just eight days ago. New Orleans used a balanced attack in the 124-91 win, with CJ McCollum leading the way with 20 points. Nine Pelicans players scored at least seven points in that game, six of which scored in double-figures.
New Orleans is a tad bit better than the Spurs against the spread, though not by much at 37-35 on the season. Though they are minus-1.1 in point differential this season, it has been a completely different story since the All-Star break. The Pelicans have a 7.9-point differential since the February intermission, which is 5th in the entire NBA. So it would be wise to consider this as well when making the bet.
As mentioned, Brandon Ingram could be out for New Orleans for the 10th straight game. Nonetheless, he wasn't there as well when they annihilated the Spurs last week. San Antonio is also without several bodies, which is favorable to New Orleans.
Final Spurs–Pelicans prediction and pick
The Pelicans should be the pick here, considering they just beat San Antonio by 33 points the week before. They have also been playing better basketball since the All-Star break and is poised to book a spot in the play-in tournament, something the 11th seeded Spurs are also chasing.
Final Spurs–Pelicans Prediction & Pick: Pelicans: -6 (-110)
