San Antonio Spurs vs New Orleans Pelicans betting predictions

San Antonio Spurs at New Orleans Pelicans NBA betting & game info

• San Antonio Spurs (19-23/17-24-1 ATS) at New Orleans Pelicans (17-27/22-20-2 ATS)
• NBA betting lines: Pelicans -3.5 | O/U 236
• NBA moneyline odds: Spurs +145 at Bovada | Pelicans -166.67 at Bovada
• When: Wednesday, January 22 at 8:30pm CT
• Where: Smoothie King Center – New Orleans, LA
• Watch live: ESPN

San Antonio Spurs vs New Orleans Pelicans NBA betting preview

Zion Williamson will play his first game of the 2019-20 NBA season when the New Orleans Pelicans host the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night.

Williamson was the no.1 pick in the last NBA draft, but a knee injury has kept him off the court until now. New Orleans’ head coach, Alvin Gentry, put it best about this game when he said, “It’s going to be a circus and everyone knows that.” Williamson will have his minutes monitored but will be in the starting lineup.

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The Spurs have won two in a row and three of their last five games. They nearly gave up a 20-point lead in their last game but rallied for a 120-118 road win over the Phoenix Suns.

Derrick White went for a season-high 25 points in that game and Bryn Forbes had 24 points. While the Spurs shot a scorching three-point percentage of 54.8% and went at 49.4% from the field overall, they allowed Phoenix to shoot 52.5%. San Antonio can score, but they are under .500 because of a defense that ranks 25th in the league and leaks 114.7 points per game.

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DeMar DeRozan (22.5 ppg) leads the Spurs in scoring. After averaging 30.3 points in the first nine games in January, he only had 18 points on 33.3% shooting in the win over the Suns. LaMarcus Aldridge (19.1 ppg, 7.3 rpg) has totaled 40 points in his last two games, but he does not have more than five rebounds in any of his last five games.

Williamson is coming back to a Pelicans team that is back on track after a terrible start to the season. They had lost a franchise record 13 in a row, but a defensive change-up has seen them win 11 of their last 16 games. Off-season addition Derrick Favors is healthy and has really helped the defense, Lonzo Ball is averaging 15.4 points, 7.2 rebounds and 7.5 assists in his last 14 games, and Jrue Holiday is back after missing seven games with an injury.

New Orleans snapped the Memphis Grizzlies’ seven-game winning streak with a 126-116 win in their last outing. Holiday needed no time to find form in his first game back, tying a season-high with 36 points.

Brandon Ingram (25.6 ppg) and Holiday (20.1 ppg) are the two leading scorers for New Orleans, while Ingram is also the leading rebounder. Two games before the win over Memphis the Pelicans snapped the 10-game win streak of the Utah Jazz, beating them 138-132 in overtime as Ingram went for a season-high 49 points.

This season the Pelicans are 8-13 at home and the Spurs are 7-13 on the road. This is the first game between these teams this season and the Pelicans have covered the spread in 21 of their last 27 home games against the Spurs.

San Antonio Spurs NBA betting trends

• Spurs are 7-2-1 ATS in their last 10 road games
• Spurs are 7-22 ATS in their last 29 games following a win
• Spurs have an Over record of 11-5 in their last 16 games

New Orleans Pelicans NBA betting trends

• Pelicans are 6-0 ATS in their last six home games
• Pelicans are 13-2-1 ATS in their last 16 games
• Pelicans have an Over record of 6-0 in their last six games

Spurs vs Pelicans NBA head-to-head betting

• Pelicans are 21-6 ATS in their last 27 home games against the Spurs
• Pelicans are 14-6 ATS in their last 20 games against the Spurs

Spurs @ Pelicans NBA betting predictions

New Orleans Pelicans -3.5 at -111.11 with Bovada
The Smoothie King Center will be rocking for Williamson’s long-awaited NBA debut, although it is unlikely he will see a lot of playing time. The Pelicans are hot of late and will feed off the buzz of the crowd as they win and cover the spread.