The New Orleans Pelicans will take on the Los Angeles Clippers tonight with the 8th seed in the Western Conference playoffs at stake.
The winner will travel to Phoenix to take on the Suns in the first round of the playoffs and the loser will be headed home disappointed with a long offseason ahead.
The Clippers weren’t supposed to be here after losing Kawhi Leonard for the season and Paul George for most of it, so a lot of credit has to go to coach Ty Lue. This is a well-coached veteran team and even though the Pels have blown the Clippers out three times this season, beating them on the road in a do-or-die playoff game is not going to be easy.
The Clippers beat the Pelicans by 19 in the 4th matchup after losing the previous three by an average of 18.6 points, so none of the games between these two teams this season have been close.
Both teams should be at full strength (minus Kawhi and Zion Williamson), though Luke Kennard is listed as questionable for the Clippers, so their 5th game of the season could be the closest.
Here are the odds and the guys I think are going to have the best games for the Pelicans.
New Orleans Pelicans @ Los Angeles Clippers: Odds, spread, over/under and best bets
According to WynnBET, the Pelicans are four point underdogs on the road against the Clippers. When you consider the books usually give the home team around three points, they are calling this one just about even.
The money lines are set at +152 for New Orleans and -185 for Los Angeles, so if you like the Pelicans to win, just take the money line and get the better odds.
The over/under is 216 combined points, which seems about right, as their four matchups this season have yielded games of 175, 227, 202, and 219 combined points for a 205 average.
I like the under in this one, as both of these teams are playing well defensively and it should be a fairly tight atmosphere considering what is on the line.
Most people are not giving the Pelicans a chance in this one, but I like them to shock LA, beat them again and head to the playoffs as the 8-seed.
In two of the three Pelicans’ wins, Jonas Valanciunas went off for 39 and 26 points, so I’d really like to see the Pelicans get him going. I think he is going to have a huge night against Ivica Zubac and he is my pick in daily fantasy.
Of course, Brandon Ingram and CJ McCollum are always solid high-end plays as well, but I like Jonas in this one.
Low-cost plays are harder to come by, as Jaxson Hayes has been off and on and the rest of the Pels’ role players are fairly inconsistent. Jose Alvarado might be your best choice, as he has been getting more minutes of late and played well against the Spurs.
How to watch Pelicans @ Clippers
The game has another late tip-off of 9:00 PM CT, so pace yourself if you are pre-gaming because this is going to be a long night. You can watch on TNT or listen on ESPN 100.3 FM.