The 2020 NBA season comes full circle on Thursday when the Utah Jazz take on the New Orleans Pelicans to open the league's schedule restart.
As we all remember, it was the Jazz that had the first positive COVID-19 test with center Rudy Gobert back on March 11, forcing the league to pull players from the floor and shutter the season. Until now.
NBA betting is back, and we give our favorite picks and predictions for Jazz vs. Pelicans - inside the NBA Bubble - on July 30.
Utah Jazz vs New Orleans Pelicans betting preview
Injuries
Utah: Bojan Bogdanovic SF (Out)
New Orleans: Zion Williamson PF (Questionable)
Check out our latest NBA injury reports.
Referees
TBA
Betting trend to know
Over is 19-7 in the last 26 meetings between Utah and New Orleans. Find more NBA betting trends for Jazz vs. Pelicans.
Against the spread pick
The Jazz have a great chance of moving up in the Western Conference pecking order with a strong start as the season resumes, sitting just three games back of the second-place Clippers in the standings. Utah has looked great in exhibition play inside the bubble, going 2-1 in those tune-up tilts.
New Orleans did them one better, going a perfect 3-0 in exhibition, including a win over Milwaukee on Monday. More so, the Pelicans won those games without Zion Williamson. The star rookie left the bubble earlier in the month to attend to family matters and returned to practice Tuesday.
Zion’s potential return ticked the spread up half a point at many books, from New Orleans -2 to -2.5. Chemistry will play a big factor in the season restart and throwing Williamson back into Alvin Gentry’s up-tempo offense with little conditioning could slow things down.
PREDICTION: Utah +2.5 (-110)
Over/Under pick
The Jazz are the second-best 3-point shooting team in the NBA, knocking down over 38 percent of their looks from long distance.
You would think a break in the schedule, losing one of their top shooters, and playing inside a strange gym would throw a wrench in that stroke from deep. But, here we are. Utah has gone 37-for-99 from 3-point range in exhibition games (37 percent).
These teams have comfortably cruised Over the total in each of their last three games, including a 138-132 overtime win for New Orleans on January 16 that smashed the total in regulation.
PREDICTION: Over 221 (-110)
Player prop pick
In uncertain times it’s good to have a veteran leader setting the course, and the Jazz have that in point guard Mike Conley.
He’s coming off an 18-point effort in the final warm-up game of the summer, shooting 7-for-11 and knocking down four 3-pointers in just under 20 minutes of action versus Brooklyn. Conley was averaging just under 14 points and 4.3 assists per game in his first year with the Jazz before the COVID-19 shutdown.
He’s being asked to take on a bigger scoring role during the restart and we’ve seen his numbers climb during exhibition games, especially his attempts from outside. He scored just 11 points in his only meeting with the Pelicans this season but could have a big day against a New Orleans defense that struggles to contain guards.
PREDICTION: Conley Over 17.5 points (-120)
Jazz vs Pelicans Betting Card
- Utah +2.5 (+100)
- Over 221 (-110)
- Conley Over 17.5 points (-120)
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