Utah Jazz (39-22) vs. New Orleans Pelicans (26-36)
March 4, 2022 8:00 pm EDT
The Line: New Orleans Pelicans 3.5; Over/Under: +227
(Get latest betting odds)
The Utah Jazz invade the Smoothie King Center to take on the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday night.
The Utah Jazz have been in red-hot form as they’ve won nine of their last 10 games overall and they will be aiming for a fourth straight win after outlasting the Rockets in a 132-127 overtime road win on Wednesday. Donovan Mitchell led the team with 37 points and 10 assists, Rudy Gobert added 27 points and 17 rebounds, Bojan Bogdanovic added 18 points while Mike Conley chipped in with 15 points and eight assists. As a team, the Jazz shot a healthy 54 percent from the field and 15 of 42 from the 3-point line as they squandered an 18-point lead in regulation, but they made up for it in the overtime period where they went on a decisive 13-3 run to pull away and escape with the narrow victory.
Meanwhile, the New Orleans Pelicans have won eight of their last 12 games overall and they will be eager to build on their current three-game win streak after routing the Kings in a 125-95 home win on Wednesday. Brandon Ingram led the team with 33 points and six assists on 15 of 19 shooting, Jonas Valanciunas, Nico Marshall and CJ McCollum each scored 17 points while Herbert Jones chipped in with 14 points. As a team, the Pelicans shot a sizzling 59 percent from the field and 11 of 29 from the 3-point line as they poured in 34 points in the second quarter to take the narrow lead at halftime, before running away with it in the second half where they outscored the Kings by an impressive 60-34.
Looking at the betting trends, the Jazz are 1-4 ATS in their last five road games, 3-7 ATS in their last 10 games against a team with a losing record and 4-1 ATS in their last five games playing on one day’s rest. The Pelicans are 1-4 ATS in their last five games against a team above .600 and 9-4 ATS in their last 13 games overall.
Head to head, the over is 22-9 in the last 31 meetings overall, the Jazz are 5-2 ATS in the last seven meetings overall and the Jazz are 12-4-1 ATS in the last 17 meetings in New Orleans.
The Jazz have been one of the hottest teams in the league as they’ve reeled off nine wins in their last 10 games, while the Pelicans are playing their best basketball of the season and they just blew past the Kings in a 30-point win on Wednesday. It’s tough to split these two teams at the moment, but with the line so short, I’m sticking with the more consistent Jazz to get the win behind another big game from Mitchell.
