Long odds for Pelicans vs. 76ers because of scheduling imbalance

The New Orleans Pelicans will play the Philadelphia 76ers on the road tonight in a makeup game for one that had to be cancelled earlier in the season.

The original game was postponed because the 76ers didn’t have enough players, a courtesy the NBA seems to mostly be affording to contending teams in marquee matchups.

The Pelicans obviously don’t count by that measure, so were forced into a weird scheduling snafu that has them playing three back-to-backs in a row for six games in nine days.

So even though it was Philly that had to cancel the game, it’s the Pelicans who will be forced to play two nights in a row, while the 76ers haven’t played since Sunday.

Look, it is what it is and all teams have had some amount of scheduling issues this season with so many players missing time due to COVID. The Wells Fargo Center is also in use in the days around this game, so there weren’t a ton of options.

But this road game in Philly was going to be tough enough without it being the tail end of a back-to-back where the Pelicans had to travel.

Hopefully the days off before this back-to-back will serve the Pelicans well tonight as they try to bounce back, possibly without Brandon Ingram once again.

New Orleans Pelicans vs. Philadelphia 76ers: Odds, spread, over/under and best bets

According to WynnBET, the Pelicans are nine point underdogs on the road tonight in Philly, which is actually pretty low when you consider the schedule and the fact that Ingram is listed as questionable and may not play.

If he doesn’t, this spread could jump way up, as the Pels have been terrible away from home this season. Philly has actually been a much better road team, so that may account for the low spread.

The money lines are set at +310 for the Pels and -400 for the 76ers and the over/under at 214.5 total points.

This is a tough matchup for the Pelicans and I would expect it to be a low-scoring affair, so the best value bet might be to take the under. I don’t see the Pels winning this game outright and I might take the points if the spread jumps up a couple more.

As for daily fantasy, double-double machine Josh Hart has been the hero of daily fantasy value plays this season, as he is still cheap on most sites and just keeps putting up numbers.

Jonas Valanciunas is always solid, though he’ll be going up against Embiid tonight, so I’d probably avoid him. If Brandon Ingram doesn’t play again, expect increased shots from Devonte’ Graham who is coming off a 25 point game vs. Indiana.

How to watch Pelicans vs. 76ers

This game vs. Philly has an early 6:00 PM CT tip off and you can watch it on Bally Sports New Orleans or listen on ESPN 100.3 FM.