Spurs vs. Pelicans Prediction and Odds for NBA's Play-In Tournament (Back Spurs as Underdog)
By Peter Dewey
The No. 9 seeded New Orleans Pelicans host the No. 10 seed San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Play-In Tournament on Wednesday at 9:30 p.m. EST.
The Spurs made a late charge to surpass the Los Angeles Lakers and earned the No. 10 spot, but they run into a much-improved Pelicans squad with Brandon Ingram and C.J. McCollum.
All-Star guard Dejounte Murray returned from an illness for the Spurs’ regular season finale on Sunday, so he should be good to go for Wednesday’s matchup.
Here are the odds for this game via WynnBET:
Spurs vs. Pelicans Odds, Spread and Total
Spread:
- Spurs +5 (-108)
- Pelicans -5 (-108)
Moneyline:
- Spurs: +180
- Pelicans: -220
Total:
- 229.5 (Over -108/Under -108)
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Spurs vs. Pelicans Prediction and Pick
This is an interesting matchup, as the Pelicans have been one of the best teams in the NBA as a home favorite this season (10-4-1 against the spread), but the Spurs have been just as good as road dogs, going 19-12-1 ATS.
However, when you look at the current form of these teams entering the game, this becomes a much easier pick for me.
Even though Murray missed several games to close the season, the Spurs have the No. 2 defensive rating and No. 14 offensive rating in the NBA over their last 10 games.
The Pelicans? They rank 16th and 12th in those respective categories.
These two teams played four times this season and twice in the last month, with the Spurs going 3-1. New Orleans did beat San Antonio by 33 on March 18, but it came in one of the Spurs’ worst games of the season, as they shot just 36 percent from the floor and 25 percent from beyond the arc.
The other three games between these two teams were a Spurs 15-point win, a Spurs 10-point win and a Spurs four-point win in the most recent matchup.
I think this one is close, especially since the Spurs have been on fire against the spread as of late, going 9-1-1 ATS in their last 11 games.
San Antonio may be a live dog as well, but for now I’ll take the points.
Lean: Spurs +5 (-108)
Find Peter Dewey’s full betting record in the NBA this season here.