San Antonio Spurs (19-52) vs. New Orleans Pelicans (34-37)
March 21, 2023 8:00 pm EDT
The Line: New Orleans Pelicans -11.5; Over/Under: +236
(Get latest betting odds)
The San Antonio Spurs and the New Orleans Pelicans collide at the Smoothie King Center on Tuesday night.
The San Antonio Spurs have been in decent form lately as they’ve split their last 10 games and they will be eager to stay hot after taking down the Hawks in a 126-118 win on Sunday. Keldon Johnson and Devin Vassell each scored 29 points, Zach Collins added 19 points with eight rebounds on eight of 13 shooting while Tre Jones chipped in with 11 points and six assists. As a team, the Spurs shot 54 percent from the field and 14 of 28 from the 3-point line as they struggled to get going and leaked 83 points in the first half to fall behind by as many as 24 points, before they sprung to life and dominated the second half by 65-35 to pull off their best comeback win of the season.
Meanwhile, the New Orleans Pelicans have been in a slump as they’ve lost five of their last eight games overall, but they will be looking to build some momentum after taking down the Rockets in a 117-107 road win on Sunday. Brandon Ingram and CJ McCollum led the team with 26 points each, Jonas Valanciunas added 21 points with 12 rebounds and two blocks while Trey Murphy chipped in with 14 points. As a team, the Pelicans shot 49 percent from the field and 13 of 31 from the 3-point line as they set the tone with 38 points in the first quarter to take the early lead, before they held the Rockets to just 16 points in the second quarter to push the lead out to 20 points.
Looking at the betting trends, the Spurs are 8-22 ATS in their last 30 road games, 7-20 ATS in their last 27 games against a team with a losing record and 7-18 ATS in their last 25 games overall. The Pelicans are 19-7-1 ATS in their last 27 games against a team below .400 and 4-9 ATS in their last 13 games overall.
Head to head, the under is 8-3 in the last 11 meetings overall, the Spurs are 1-4 ATS in the last five meetings overall and the Spurs are 7-1 ATS in the last eight meetings in New Orleans.
The Spurs are still shorthanded as Jeremy Sochan, Zach Collins and Devin Vassell are all out, while the Pelicans are still without Jose Alvarado and Zion Williamson. The Spurs have come to life with five wins in their past 10 games and they will be full of confidence after taking down the Hawks on Sunday in their best comeback win of the season. The Pelicans were really struggling before their win over the Rockets, but they still have more firepower compared to the Spurs even without their best player sidelined. This is a tough one to pick, but the Spurs are 7-1 ATS in the last eight meetings in New Orleans and I think that trend continues here as the pesky Spurs stick around till the end to earn the cover.
