Nets ML (-125) – 1.5-units
This is a matchup of teams that are off to completely opposite starts to their season, both playing opposite the preseason expectations we had set for them. The Nets have wound up being a really scrappy team, and despite a 4-6 record, have been playing very good basketball. Just looking at their last two games tells you as much, even though both were ultimately losses. Brooklyn took the Celtics to overtime in Boston on Friday, losing by four, and then had to go to Cleveland the very next night to face the undefeated Cavs. The Nets dropped that game by five points, but the fact that they’ve been taking elite competition down to the wire is encouraging.
Off a couple of frustrating losses, the Pelicans represent a very good spot to breakthrough and get a win. It’s not really their fault, but you just can’t be dealing with more injuries than New Orleans is right now. Zion Williamson, Dejounte Murray, C.J. McCollum, Herb Jones and Jordan Hawkins all remain sidelined for the Pelicans. That’s three of their four best players, and five of their top eight guys. The only positive news tonight for New Orleans is that Trey Murphy is expected to make his season debut, but there’s only so much we can expect of him in his first game back from injury.
The Pelicans are basically riding Brandon Ingram along with whichever four bench players happen to be available to be available to start alongside him for that game, and it hasn’t been going well. Meanwhile, the Nets have been getting terrific production from Cam Thomas, Cam Johnson, Dennis Schroder and Dorian Finney-Smith. Nic Claxton has been solid when he’s healthy, and believe it or not, I actually watched Ben Simmons play an impactful game on Friday in Boston. This roster is versatile and playing hard right now, and the Pelicans just don’t have the horses to keep up.
It’s easy to look past the Nets given their expectations this season, but given how they’ve been playing, this is a great situation to pull out a win on the road.
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All views expressed are my own. I am an employee of DraftKings and am ineligible to play in public DFS or DKSB contests.
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