After reaching a season-high seven games above .500, the San Antonio Spurs have dropped five of eight entering tonight’s road contest with the New Orleans Pelicans. Sportsbooks opened the Spurs as 1.5-point road favorites with a total of 225.5.
- The Spurs are 2-7 SU and 0-9 ATS in their last nine games on the road vs the Pelicans.
- The total has gone UNDER in seven of the Pelicans' last nine games at home. (Avg combined score: 220.0)
- The Spurs are 18-6 ATS in their last 24 games.
DeRozan is starting to break out of his slump
The Spurs dropped a 122-120 decision to the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday despite shooting a fantastic 57.3 percent from the field, as seven Spurs players scored in double figures. The team collapsed down the stretch, however, by Philly scoring 10 unanswered points in the final 2:15 of the tilt. Shooting guard DeMar DeRozan broke out of a funk by notching 26 points on 12-of-19 shooting to post his first 20-point effort since January 7.
The Pelicans will be without star big man Anthony Davis, who’s dealing with a nagging finger issue right now. The Pels put up a fight without him before falling 122-116 to the Oklahoma City Thunder in their last time out. Power forward Julius Randle also missed that game with an ankle injury but is hoping to return to the lineup tonight.
Spurs have struggled mightily in Louisiana
The Spurs have traditionally fared poorly when traveling to the Bayou State. In San Antonio’s past nine trips to New Orleans, it’s 2-7 SU and 0-9 ATS. The visiting team is also 3-14 SU in the previous 17 meetings between the Spurs and Pelicans.
On the total, betting trends are pointing to an UNDER in this one. The UNDER is 7-2 in the Pelicans’ last nine home games with an average combined score of 220 points, while the Spurs have gone UNDER in five of their past seven games with two days off between contests.
My pick: take the UNDER
The absence of Davis has the Pelicans looking like a completely different team right now, and it’s made them a hard team to trust to cash OVERs due to the offense lacking without him in the fold. New Orleans has proven to be a solid UNDER wager at home, and I’m on that trend yet again tonight.
