Pelicans odds vs. Spurs: Do-or-die game in New Orleans

The Pelicans will take on the San Antonio Spurs in what will hopefully be the first game of the NBA play-in tournament for New Orleans.

If the Pels win, they will go on to face the Los Angeles Clippers, who lost to the Timberwolves. But before they can worry about that, the Pelicans will have to take care of business against a Spurs team that has already beaten them three times this season.

New Orleans wasn’t at full strength for any of those games, so you can throw them out the window because it all comes down to who wins tonight.

Both teams come into this game on small losing streaks but playing well overall, and are back to full strength (minus Zion Williamson of course), so their 5th and final matchup of the season could be their best.

Stopping Dejounte Murray will be the key for the Pelicans, as he has had big games against New Orleans In the past and is the engine that makes their offense go. He has logged two triple-doubles against the Pelicans this season and had 31 points and 12 assists in a Spurs’ win back in February.

We may see more minutes from Jose Alvarado to see if he can stay in front of Murray and slow him down.

Offensively the Pelicans just have to do their thing, be patient and use their experience against the young Spurs. Brandon Ingram and CJ McCollum should be able to feast in the mid-range and they can play through Jonas Valanciunas in the post at times as well.

But what do the books think?

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

According to WynnBET, the Pelicans are 5.5 point favorites at home against the Spurs.

When you factor in the points allotted for home court advantage, the books are saying the Pelicans are small favorite to win this one.

The money lines are set at -240 for New Orleans and +190 for the Spurs. Only one of their four games has been close, so I’d take the Pelicans to cover and get the better odds (-108).

The over/under is 226 combined points, which I think is a little high. They were under that combined in three of the four matchups this season and there could be some early nerves that lead to poor shooting.

I think the Pels’ experience and superior top-level talent should win out tonight, as the Smoothie King Center will be raucous and the Pelicans should be able to put the Spurs away late with a couple of big runs.

I like New Orleans to win 120-105 and move on to face the Clippers for a chance at the playoffs.

Aside from the obvious choices (Brandon Ingram, CJ McCollum and Jonas Valanciunas), I really love Jaxson Hayes in this game.

The Spurs don’t have an easy answer for him, so if he can play with energy without getting into foul trouble, I think he’ll clean up on the boards and get some run outs.

If Jose Alvarado ends up playing more minutes in an effort to stop Murray, he could put up some stats, but he’d be a higher risk play in daily fantasy.

Any of the Pelicans’ bench players are risky, as we don’t know what Willie Green’s playoff rotation is going to look like, so stick with Hayes for a low-cost option.

How to watch Pelicans vs. Spurs

Hopefully you are lucky enough to be going to the game, if not, you can watch on ESPN or listen on ESPN 100.3 FM. The tip-off isn’t until 8:30 CT, so the local fans have plenty of time to get rowdy.

LET’S GO PELS!!