The NBA has five games on the scoreboard this Saturday, and the final matchup of the night is a rematch between the New Orleans Pelicans and the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City. This Western Conference matchup tips off at 9:30 p.m. ET and closes out the month. The two teams in this matchup are both well out of the playoff picture, but each has some intriguing storylines. Let’s break down the matchup and find some Pelicans vs. Jazz player prop bets that make sense this Saturday.
In the overall matchup, the Pelicans are 6.5-point road favorites with the total set at an elevated 245.5 on DraftKings Sportsbook. The Pelicans won 129-118 on Thursday in the first game of this two-game series at the Delta Center.
The Pelicans have actually won three straight games and have now matched the Jazz’s total of 18 wins on the season. The Pels are 18-42 while the Jazz are 18-41 after losing four straight and six of their last eight.
On the injury report, the Jazz upgraded Keyonte George to probable but will remain without Lauri Markkanen in addition to their multiple players who are out for the season. For the Pelicans, Trey Murphy III remains out and Dejounte Murray will sit for injury maintenance purposes, but Yves Missi will be available after missing the last five games.
Pelicans vs. Jazz Best Prop Bets
Jeremiah Fears o23.5 Points + Rebounds + Assists (-104)
Without Murray and Murphy, Fears will likely step into a much larger role for the Pelicans. In what should be a high-scoring game, he should be able to pile up at least 24 PRA (points, rebounds and assists).
Fears is averaging 19.9 PRA in his 60 games as a rookie, but he has been in a smaller role lately since Murray returned. In his six games without both Murphy and Murray, Fears is averaging exactly 23.5 PRA, but he has been playing better lately than he was early in his first year in the NBA.
On Thursday, Fears had 18 PRA in 22 minutes, but he had 27 and 31 PRA in his last two games before the All-Star break with 25 and 20 PRA in his first two games after the break.
With Jordan Poole and Bryce McGowens around, there’s no guarantee that Fears gets a huge showcase-level workload, but he definitely has the potential to put together a stat line over this PRA if he gets expanded minutes Saturday. If he starts in Murray’s spot, it will be a good indicator he’s in for a busy night.
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Kyle Filipowski o12.5 Points (-119)
The Jazz have been using all kinds of strange rotations and sitting their starters at times, so it’s hard to fully trust any prop from their side of this matchup. However, with Lauri Markkanen joining Jaren Jackson Jr., Walker Kessler and Jusuf Nurkic on the sidelines, Filipowski is clearly the team’s best remaining big man.
Filipowski is still only playing limited minutes, but he has been able to get over this prop line in each of his last four games anyway. He had 13 points in just 18 minutes against the Pelicans on Thursday after scoring 13 points in 24 minutes against the Rockets last Monday.
With Keyonte George returning, the Jazz could give their key pieces like George and Filipowski a little more run in this matchup, although trying to predict what Utah will do with its rotation is tricky. Even if he just continues to get the same smaller role, he is getting enough work that this prop is attainable for him on Saturday.
Derik Queen 7+ Rebounds (+112)
The Pelicans added both Fears and Queen in the first round of last year’s NBA Draft, and both youngsters should get plenty of minutes in this matchup.
Veteran DeAndre Jordan has been starting ahead of Queen for the last three games, but Queen still went over this prop in every game off the bench behind Jordan. He has gone over this prop in four straight games, raising his average to 7.3 rebounds per game on the season.
With Missi back in action, Queen’s playing time could be a little shaky, but he’s still ahead of Karlo Matkovic and should be prioritized even over getting Jordan playing time.
How the frontcourt shakes out going forward will be important to watch for the fantasy value of all the big men in New Orleans. In this favorable matchup, though, the Pelicans will take the chance to get their two rookies some extra minutes. I think both will have solid games, with Fears going over his PRA prop line and Queen grabbing at least seven boards.
Bonus Parlay Pick: Jordan Poole o1.5 Rebounds (-174)
If you’re building an SGP (Same Game Parlay) from this Saturday night finale, adding in the over on Poole’s rebounds boosts the odds to a solid +1100 for these four Pelicans-Jazz bets.
Without Murray and Murphy, Poole should get plenty of minutes behind, ahead, or alongside Fears. He has at least two rebounds in nine straight games, including all four since he re-entered the rotation this month. He had two rebounds against the Jazz on Thursday, but he had been even better with at least three rebounds in four straight before that.
