Pelicans vs Spurs Odds, Picks, and Predictions Tonight: Welcome to Wembanyama's Block Party

Two of the NBA’s most intriguing young stars square off as the New Orleans Pelicans continue their rodeo road trip with a game against the San Antonio Spurs. Zion Williamson is having a solid if unremarkable season but is still capable of jaw-dropping feats of athletic ability that remind you just how high his upside is. 

Victor Wembanyama seems to produce a season's worth of such highlights on a weekly basis, so it should be good theatre to see these two match up on Friday, February 2. 

While the NBA odds think the visiting Pelicans have the upper hand, Wemby is making a habit of defying the odds of late.

My NBA picks and predictions for Pelicans vs. Spurs once again think there is value to be had backing a play on Wembanyama’s blocks prop.

Pelicans vs Spurs odds

Pelicans vs Spurs predictions

Victor Wembanyama won his first Western Conference Rookie of the Month award this week, as he showcased every bit of why he’s considered the best prospect since LeBron James. While it was his Shammgod crossover and score against fellow Frenchman Rudy Gobert that broke the internet, it’s still Wemby’s potential on the other side of the ball that is truly game breaking.

Wembanyama leads the NBA in blocks per game and total blocks this season. His 3.2 blocks per game easily clears Brook Lopez in second place at 2.8 per contest, and if he finishes at this pace he’ll have the most blocks per game by a rookie since Shaquille O'Neal and Alonzo Mourning in the early 90s. 

And Victor has done most of that while playing on a minutes restriction. It’s scary to imagine what he’ll be capable of when he’s completely unleashed and has an offseason to further develop his body.

Wemby blocked a whopping 6.1% of all opponent shot attempts in January, per Cleaning the Glass, yet the Victor Wembanyama odds for Friday’s matchup against the New Orleans Pelicans are quite favorable.

It’s not as if the way the Pels play should neutralize Wemby either, indeed it’s just the opposite. The Pelicans run a fairly antiquated offense. Despite having a number of strong 3-point shooters like CJ McCollum, Trey Murphy III, and Jordan Hawkins, they just don’t take that many 3s.

New Orleans shoots the sixth-fewest 3s as a proportion of their offense in the Association. Most of their offense instead comes in the midrange and right around the basket. 

That makes them highly susceptible to the go-go gadget arms of Wembanyama. When Wemby is the paint, any shot taken within 15 feet of the basket is liable to get blocked. Attempts at the rim by Jonas Valanciunas and Zion Williamson are also going to be good targets. 

Both those players are stronger than Victor, but strength has been no impediment to Wemby when he has a length and speed advantage (which is almost always). He has gone toe-to-toe with the likes of Anthony Davis and been productive, so I’m bullish on his chances again here.

My best bet: Victor Wembanyama Over 2.5 blocks (-110 at DraftKings)

Pelicans vs Spurs same-game parlay

Victor Wembanyama Over 2.5 blocks

Tre Jones Under 8.5 assists

Pelicans moneyline

+335 at DraftKings

My Friday same-game parlay is all about defense, as I loop in the Under on Tre Jones’ assists as well as the Pels moneyline to go with my best bet.

Elevating Jones to starting point guard has been an unmitigated success for the San Antonio Spurs. Jones would be a quality backup guard on most teams, but even as the Spurs starter he’s made a massive difference just as an organizer and a guy who consistently looks to throw lobs to Wembanyama. 

But Jones is slight, even for the one, at just 6-foot-1. That is going to be problematic against the Pels. 

New Orleans is a team that smothers opposing perimeter players with length, and they consistently slow down even elite perimeter scorers because of that length. Jones just isn’t going to have the same passing angles he’s used to, and he’s only gone over this prop in one of his last five games as is.

As for the Pels moneyline, their record recently has been a bit too spotty for me to take the spread at -7.5. But they’re still good enough even on a bad day to eke out a road win.

Learn how to bet a same-game parlay with these helpful tips and strategies.

Pelicans vs Spurs spread and Over/Under analysis

New Orleans opened between -6.5 and -7 point favorites for Friday. That’s seen slight movement throughout Thursday, and most oddsmakers are now offering this game at -7.5 in favor of the Pels.

Both these teams are 5-5 ATS in their last 10, but the Pelicans have still underperformed the spread by 3.8 points in their last six games. They’ve also played a murderer's row of competition, however, and they’ve shown a penchant for thrashing below .500 teams. 

They are 13-9-1 ATS as the road team and have one of the better ATS records overall.

The Spurs, to their credit, have made real strides. They’ve gone from “inexcusably, historically awful” to just kind of normally bad. They were at a -10 or worse net rating for most of the year and are now closer to -8, and over the past two weeks have played at a -4.1 point differential.

The total opened at 237.5 and has fallen as low as 235.5 at some sportsbooks since.

The Pelicans are a Top-10 defense by the numbers, but they have been in a serious rut recently. They’ve allowed 120.7 points per 100 possessions over the past two weeks, which is the equivalent of opposing teams scoring better than a Top-5 offense. 

But again, the team quality difference between the Pels' recent games and the Spurs’ is massive. New Orleans has defensive flaws, but not ones that San Antonio should be great at exploiting.

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Pelicans vs Spurs betting trend to know

The Pelicans are 13-9-1 ATS in their last 23 road games. Find more NBA betting trends for Pelicans vs. Spurs.

Pelicans vs Spurs game info

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