Pelicans odds vs. Spurs: Biggest weekend of the season in New Orleans

The New Orleans Pelicans tip off their biggest weekend of the season tonight in the Smoothie King Center against the San Antonio Spurs.

The Pels are currently tied for the 9th seed, which is important considering it not only potentially gives them a home game in the play-in tournament, but makes it more likely that they will get to keep the 2022 NBA Draft pick they are owed from the Lakers.

The Spurs are just two games behind both the Pelicans and Lakers, so this game, coupled with Sunday’s showdown with LA, could have big implications in the standings and eventually the Draft.

Brandon Ingram has been upgraded to questionable for tonight’s game and the Pelicans would love to have him back for the two most important games of the season. But given this weekend is a back-to-back, I’d say it’s extremely unlikely that he plays in both games.

The Spurs will be missing Lonnie Walker, Romeo Langford and possibly Devin Vassell, who is listed as questionable for tonight’s game.

This one has “trap game” written all over it, so the Pelicans can’t look past the Spurs to Sunday’s matchup with the Lakers, as this one is almost as important.

New Orleans Pelicans vs. San Antonio Spurs: Odds, spread, over/under and best bets

According to WynnBET, the Pelicans are five point favorites tonight at home against the Spurs.

The Pels blew the Spurs out on the road in the last matchup, which didn’t feature Brandon Ingram, so I like New Orleans’ chances of covering this one at home whether he plays or not.

The money lines are set at -220 for New Orleans and +180 for San Antonio, so take the Pelicans to cover and get the better odds.

The over/under is 234 combined points, which seems very high. These two teams scored 215 combined points in their last meeting and that was with the Pels scoring 124 themselves, so I like the under in this one.

Look for the Pelicans to win handily, with a final score of around. 115-100.

Jonas Valanciunas is a double-double machine in daily fantasy and continues to be the Pelicans’ most reliable player. CJ McCollum will put up 25 even on a quiet night, as he did in the last win against the Bulls.

Those two are solid, but it’s the rest of the Pels where you’ll be left guessing. Can Devonte’ Graham and his new hair provide consistent production?

Will Jaxson Hayes have a big game as he did in the last meeting vs. the Spurs or another quiet night like he had against the Bulls?

My low-cost play of the game is Jose Alvarado, who is coming off one of his best all-around games of the season and has scored in double digits in two of his last three games.

How to watch Pelicans vs. Spurs

The game has a weird tip-off time of 4:00 PM CT and you can watch on Bally Sports New Orleans or listen on ESPN 100.3 FM. Better yet, buy a ticket and get down there and pack The Blender for the biggest weekend of Pelicans’ basketball in years.