The San Antonio Spurs may officially be out of the playoff picture, but they can still play the role of spoiler in the NBA odds when they take on the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday night in an interesting road matchup.
Can New Orleans earn a convincing win here as it pushes for one of the last spots in the West, or will it begin to head down the standings into the play-in zone?
Let's get right into it with our in-depth preview and NBA picks for Spurs vs. Pelicans on Friday, April 5.
Spurs vs Pelicans predictions
My best bet: Spurs +12 (-114 at FanDuel)
The New Orleans Pelicans find themselves in a tie for sixth out West, matching the Phoenix Suns with a 45-31 record. With the tiebreaker currently headed towards the Suns, and Phoenix on a hot streak, the task at hand is a difficult one as we enter play over the weekend.
New Orleans has just six games left, and with Phoenix, Sacramento, Golden State and the Lakers ahead of it, securing a win here on Friday is of the utmost importance.
The Pelicans have been playing without Brandon Ingram for the past couple of weeks, something that has really done damage to this team’s defense. It’s slipped into the bottom half of the league in efficiency rating over the past 14 days, and while the offense has seemed to survive without Ingram, this team’s success rate from 3-point range has absolutely cratered, removing one of its biggest weapons. The mid-range shooting has simply not been there either.
The tough part here for New Orleans will be that the San Antonio Spurs’ interior defense has been nothing short of special since the break, and that just so happens to be where the Pelicans take most of their shots. The good news is that San Antonio has been one of the worst in the league over the past two weeks at defending the trey, but with a relatively low volume from outside it’s anyone’s guess how much of a role that plays in the outcome.
The Spurs have covered the spread in their last five games and being spotted a large sum of points in a game where they should have a considerable advantage on defense, and in a week where the Pelicans’ defense has looked all out of sorts. I don’t think there’s a different way to play this game than grabbing the points with the road underdogs.
Spurs vs Pelicans same-game parlay
Spurs +12
Victor Wembanyama Over 25.5 points
Victor Wembanyama Over 11.5 rebounds
If we’re going to bet on the Spurs here, it’s got to be Victor Wembanyama accompanying the points in our same-game parlay.
The Pelicans’ interior defense has been bad this season, ranking 21st in the NBA with a 67.6% field goal percentage according to Cleaning the Glass, and things have somehow gotten worse in the past two weeks as they’ve allowed 70.6% shooting at the rim to rank 25th in the league.
Wembanyama will be taking most of his shots inside, and against a depleted frontcourt he should have success in scoring and rebounding.
The Pelicans find themselves head and shoulders above the Spurs for the season when it comes to production on the glass, but in the last two weeks the script has flipped with San Antonio knocking on the door of the top 10 and the Pelicans falling into the bottom third of the NBA. It’s hard to justify these numbers given Wembanyama’s variance in the past 10 games, but the matchup certainly calls for a lot of Wembanyama against a weak frontcourt.
Learn how to bet a same-game parlay with these helpful tips and strategies.
Spurs vs Pelicans odds and trends
Spurs vs Pelicans live odds
Spurs vs Pelicans opening odds
- Spread: San Antonio +11 | New Orleans -11
- Moneyline: San Antonio +471 | New Orleans -598
- Over/Under: Over 218.5 | Under 218.5
Spurs vs Pelicans spread and Over/Under analysis
- The Pelicans were initially offered as 10.5-point favorites when the betting opened up before the line jumped by a full point within hours. Some money came back in on San Antonio to get this line all the way back to 10.5 early on Friday before a sharp move brought the line back to 11.5, where it’s remained rather stagnant in the afternoon.
- With that, you wouldn’t be surprised to hear that while 74% of the tickets wagered on the spread over at DraftKings have come in on the Spurs, a lower 65% of the total handle has come in that way.
- The total has been one for the sharps, who have taken it from the opening number of 221.5 and brought it down to 219 where it stands on Friday afternoon.
- Just 39% of the bets made on the total are on the Under, but DraftKings has taken 76% of the handle on that bet.
Spurs vs Pelicans trend
The San Antonio Spurs have hit the 1Q Moneyline in 39 of their last 77 games (+17.50 Units / 22% ROI). Find more NBA betting trends for Spurs vs. Pelicans.
Spurs vs Pelicans game info
| Location: | Smoothie King Center, New Orleans, LA |
| Date: | Friday, April 5, 2024 |
| Tip-off: | 8:00 p.m. ET |
| TV: | Bally Sports New Orleans, KENS |
Not intended for use in MA.
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