NBA Pay-In: San Antonio Spurs vs. New Orleans Pelicans Preview, Odds, Prediction

The New Orleans Pelicans and the San Antonio Spurs meet in the play-in clash tonight at the Smoothie King Center in Louisiana. The hosts won the ninth, while the guests took the tenth seed in the West, and now have to decide which team heads on to face the LA Clippers in the battle for the last position that leads to the playoffs. It’ll be interesting to see these two units. On one side, the Pelicans have young and talented individuals, while on the other hand, the Spurs are a compact unit without superstars.

Preview

San Antonio Spurs (+180) closed the year with three defeats in a row, two on the road, in Minnesota and Dallas, and one at home against the Warriors. Their most recent game was against the Mavs, 130-120.

Throughout all 48 minutes, the Spurs couldn’t do anything against the hosts, who lost Luka Doncic in this clash and seriously endangered their playoff prospects. The Spurs’ best player was Keldon Johnson, with 24 points, six boards and four steals. The next best thing was Josh Richardson, with 18 points off the bench, while Dejunonte Muray had 17.

The biggest advantage of the franchise from San Antonio will be their head coach, Gregg Popovich, who knows how to behave in moments like these, and if there is a minimal chance for him to exploit the rival’s weakness, be sure that Pop’s going to use it.

New Orleans Pelicans (-220) suffered back-to-back defeats to close the regular season. After the one in Memphis against the Grizzlies, 141-114, the Golden State Warriors were better in Louisiana, 128-107.

The Pels didn’t play their best players in this one. Ingram was out while McCollum spent only six minutes on the court. Valanciunas was also resting, etc. Their best player was Naji Marshall with 19 points, while Gary Clark scored 17.

Overall, this team is very good and talented on the offensive side of the court, with two relentless scorers, Ingram 22.7 ppg and McCollum 24.3 ppg. However, they are very weak when it comes to defensive productivity, and overall, that aspect of the game is preventing them from making better results.

Head to Head Games

The Spurs and the Pelicans met on four occasions this year, and Gregg Popovich’s unit won three times, suffering only one loss. That’s what gives the Spurs’ fans hope ahead of this meeting.

On December 12, the Spurs were better at home, 112-97, then they won on the road on February 12, 124-114. The Pelicans were better in San Antonio on March 18, 124-91, and the final meeting took place on March 26 in Louisiana, when the Spurs won the Pels, 107-103.

Prediction

The Pelicans will now have the full lineup at disposal, and we simply have to bet here on their victory. Throughout the season, they didn’t meet the Spurs with a full roster, and there were always some key players missing. For example, in the most recent clash, Ingram was out. That is why we want to back up the hosts, who also looked more constant than the Spurs in the closing phase of the season.

Pick: Pelicans win -220