Two of the worst teams in the West will go head to head tonight, as the 17-42 Pelicans host the 13-47 Jazz. The Jazz will be without Keyonte George, Jaren Jackson Jr., Walker Kessler, Lauri Markkanen, Jusuf Nurkic, and Vince Williams. The Pelicans will be missing Yves Missi and Trey Murphy III.
The Pelicans are 6.5-point favorites on DraftKings Sportsbook with the total for this game set at 244.5 points.
Jazz vs. Pelicans prediction, preview
Utah’s season can be defined as a slog on both ends of the floor that’s kept them buried in the West. To be frank, they’re a complete open invitation for opposing teams’ players to have career nights. Alperen Sengun was coming off four straight sub-20 point games before dropping a robust 26 point, 13 rebound, 11 assist triple double against them last night. The Jazz are dead last in DEFRTG with 120.7, which is to be expected since they’re missing almost their entire starting lineup. This season’s one to forget, but they should field a fairly competitive team next season with a giant front court consisting of Markkanen, Jackson Jr., and Kessler, which should do wonders for their defense (it can’t get much worse from here). Their offense isn’t the worst, either, but without so many offensive options tonight, there’ll be little they can do to win this game, even against New Orleans.
The Pelicans are close to the Jazz in the standings, but they’re 5-5 in their last ten games and at least look functional. They’re posting 116.4 OFFRTG and 115.4 DEFRTG in their last ten, so there’s some signs of life there, even if this team itself isn’t going anywhere. New Orleans will look to run it back with a similar squad next season now that they’ve gotten Dejounte Murray back, who can use the rest of this season to get back into rhythm. Murray has only played one game since returning, but played 25 minutes and put up 13 points and three assists on 5/11 shooting from the field.
These two teams will meet tonight for the first time this season.
Jazz vs. Pelicans pick, best bet
Best Bet: O 244.5
These are two bad defenses having a go at each other tonight, and I’m expecting there to be not much defense.
Extra Best Bet: DeJounte Murray 20+ Points (+266)
Without Trey Murphy in the mix, we’re getting some nice odds for Murray, who will still likely be on a minutes restriction. Despite that, he’ll have a good opportunity to put up a decent scoring night against the league’s worst defense. If Murray puts up anywhere north of 13 shots, of which he’s surpassed for the last five seasons, he has a nice chance of hitting 20 points.
