A pair of teams on the right side of the playoff cut line in the Western Conference as the season winds down take the floor in search of a win in the Mile High City. The New Orleans Pelicans are on the road as they make the trip to face the Denver Nuggets Thursday night. New Orleans faded in the final quarter, falling 120-109 on the road to the Warriors in their previous game Tuesday night, failing to cover the line as an 8.5-point underdog. Denver defeated Philadelphia 116-111 at home Monday night in their previous game, though they failed to cover the line as a 10-point favorite. In the all-time regular season series between the teams, the Nuggets own a 41-30 advantage and have taken two of the three meetings this season. That includes a 122-113 home win in the most recent meeting on January 31.
I won $14,619 in parlay tickets in the month of November, hit a 47-1 parlay to kick off the New Year plus 10 more four-teamers worth more than $10,000 in the last six weeks! Don't miss out on another big payday! Click here to get a month of my parlays for only $50 (normally $100)!
New Orleans had Golden State on the ropes for three quarters before running out of gas late as they were beaten by the Warriors. The Pelicans entered Wednesday night second in the Southwest Division with a 38-38 record, 10.5 games behind the Grizzlies. In the Western Conference playoff picture, they were eighth, 13.5 games behind the Nuggets for the top spot, 1.5 games behind the Warriors for the final guaranteed playoff spot and one game ahead of 11th-place Dallas to remain in the play-in tournament. Against Golden State, New Orleans closed the first quarter on a 16-2 run to take a 36-25 lead at the end of the stanza and they led by 17 at the half. The Pelicans were still up four after three quarters before getting outscored 35-20 in the fourth to wind up with the loss. New Orleans shot 46.7% from the field, including 12 of 27 from three-point range, and allowed Golden State to shoot 52.4% in the contest. Brandon Ingram had 26 p oints, eight rebounds and seven assists to lead the Pelicans in the loss.
On the season, the Pelicans are 15th in the league in scoring offense as they average 114.3 points per game on the season. New Orleans is 12th in rebounding by collecting 43.7 boards a night while the team ranks 8th in assists by dishing out 26 dimes a night. The Pelicans are 10th in the league in scoring defense as they allow 112.5 points per game so far this year. Brandon Ingram puts up 24.1 points plus 5.1 boards per contest this season while Zion Williamson adds a team-high 26 points plus seven rebounds a night. Trey Murphy III adds 13.9 points plus 3.6 boards a night, Jonas Valanciunas chips in 14.3 points plus 10.1 rebounds per game while CJ McCollum (20.8 points, 5.9 assists) is also averaging in double figures. Josh Richardson (10.7 points), Jaxson Hayes, Herbert Jones (9.4 points), Larry Nance Jr., Najj Marshall (10. 5 points) and Jose Alvarado (nine points) are key pieces in the Pelicans’ rotation. New Orleans is 10th in field goal percentage by shooting 48% from the field as a team this season. The Pelicans are 22nd in the league in threes per game as they knock down 11 triples per contest and stand 16th in three-point shooting by hitting 36.2% percent from beyond the arc.
Williamson (hamstring) hasn’t played since January 2, missing the last 39 games for the Pelicans. He may be out until mid-April. Alvarado (shin) last took the floor on February 27 and has missed the last 14 games. Like Williamson, his timetable for return seems to be sometime around mid-April.
No House Advantage: Bet on player over/unders VS THE HOUSE to 21x your bet OR play in PICK 'EM contests against other people! Click here to get a 1st deposit match up to $100 1st w/ promocode WandW!