We have a Western Conference showdown as the Utah Jazz will take on the New Orleans Pelicans inside of the Smoothie King Center on Monday night.
The season series is tied at one game apiece, so this is an important game on that front. The Jazz are third in the Western Conference with a 26-10 record and are coming off a 123-116 home loss against the Golden State Warriors on Saturday.
The Pelicans are also coming off a loss, but this one was on the road on Saturday against the Milwaukee Bucks 136-113.
Jazz at Pelicans Betting Preview
Play Through Your Big Three
The Utah Jazz are one of the best teams for the NBA betting this season as they leading the league with 116 points per game, 47.6 rebounds per game, and shooting the ball with a 47.7 field goal percentage.
It definitely helps your offense out when you have a guy like shooting guard Donovan Mitchell scoring 25.6 points per game (eighth in the league). They also have one of the greatest rebounders of this generation in center Rudy Gobert, who is averaging 15.7 points, 15 rebounds, and 2.3 blocks per game so far.
With the trio of point guard Mike Conley, shooting guard Donovan Mitchell, and center Rudy Gobert, it is going to be difficult for an opposing team to decide what to focus on.
The Utah Jazz have been a pretty good defensive team as well, as they are currently 10th in the NBA with 106.2 points per game allowed this season.
One reason why they are so successful is that they eliminate the three-point shot pretty well as they are sixth in the league allowing their opponents to shoot 33.4 percent from beyond the arc.
The defense down low by their three-time Defensive Player of the Year Award winner takes out the inside game, so it’s difficult to figure out how to score against this Jazz team.
Survive the Injuries
Another year, another disappointing start for the New Orleans Pelicans. They are currently 25th in the NBA, scoring 105.3 points per game.
However, that has been without power forward Zion Williamson stepping on the court this season, and now small forward Brandon Ingram (Achilles) is questionable for this game, and he is their leading scorer.
Ingram has been playing well this season as he is averaging 22.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, 4.9 assists, and 0.6 steals in 34.7 minutes per game. They need to figure out how to get the ball in the hoop more consistently if they want to be a competitive franchise.
It is going to be extremely difficult for New Orleans to remain competitive on the defensive side with their injuries as they are missing small forward Didi Louzada, point guard Kira Lewis Jr, power forward Zion Williamson, shooting guard Tomas Satoransky, and center Jonas Valanciunas for this game with small forward Brandon Ingram listed as day-to-day.
The Pelicans are currently 21st in the NBA, giving up 110.2 point per game this season, but without their best players in the lineup, this could be a long day unless some of their role players step up in a bigger spot.
Who Will Win?
The Utah Jazz are currently listed as 10 point road favorites in this game, and they should easily cover that. New Orleans is injured, and even with a full roster, they are not on the same level as Utah.
The Jazz are 13-6-1 against the spread in their last 20 games against the Pelicans, so go with Utah to cover the spread here as well.
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