San Antonio Spurs vs New Orleans Pelicans Prediction & Betting Tips - NBA

Prediction published on 16/12/2023, 09:15  by Devesh Jaganath | Modified on 16/12/2023 at 16:56 in NBA Predictions

New Orleans Pelicans will head to the AT&T Center to face off against the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday. The hosts are currently at the bottom of the Western Conference with a record of 4-20, while the visitors are 15-11 and ninth in the Western Conference. 

Devin Vassell scored a career-high 36 points to help lift San Antonio to a 129-115 win over a short-handed Los Angeles Lakers on Friday.  Still, that snapped the Spurs’ franchise-record 18-game losing streak and was also just their second home win of the season. Victor Wembanyama had another productive evening, finishing with 13 points and 15 rebounds. The Spurs are now 1-4 against division opponents. Across the season, the Spurs have averaged 110.6 points per game, 3.4 fewer points than the 114.0 the Pelicans allow. The hosts will also benefit from the fact that they did not have to travel overnight while their opponents were in Charlotte yesterday. 

This is the second meeting between these sides, and the Pelicans came out on top in the last meeting 121-106 on Dec. 2, with Jonas Valanciunas scoring 24 points. And it was Valanciunas who put up 29 points and 13 rebounds last night when the Pels held on to overcome the Charlotte Hornets 112-107.  That result takes them to three wins on the bounce and 6-7 on the road. The Pelicans are 10-9 in Western Conference play and average 114.8 points per game (ranked sixth), 6.4 fewer points than the 121.2 the Spurs give up. However, that increased to 116.6 over the last ten, which is almost two points better than Spurs’ average points scored over the same period. Larry Nance Jr. and Matt Ryan will both miss this match through injury.