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The Utah Jazz travel to the Big Easy to take on the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday night at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans
Jazz In Tune
Since the turn of 2019, the Jazz have been in tune and are one of the hottest teams in the NBA. Utah had a disappointing start to their season but they have since turned it around and are currently the 6th seed in the ultra-competitive Western Conference with their 36-27 record.
Second-year guard Donovan Mitchell has been the key to Utah’s success. Mitchell is averaging 23.3 points, 4.0 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.4 steals per game this season. Rudy Gobert is Utah’s defensive anchor and he is grabbing 12.9 rebounds and blocking 2.2 shots per game while also scoring 15.3 points per game. Ricky Rubio is the team’s top passer with 6.0 assists per game while also scoring 12.9 points per game.
The Jazz rank 20th in the league in scoring at 110.2 points per game. Utah is also 12th in the NBA in the passing department at 25.2 assists per game and they are 10th off the glass with 45.9 rebounds per outing. The Jazz defense is allowing opponents to score just 106.8 points per game, 6th best among 30 NBA teams.
Jazz
-180
Pelicans
+160
Odds from betonline.ag as of 3/06/19
Winning Despite Their Situation
Despite the situation involving franchise player Anthony Davis, the New Orleans Pelicans have been able to play through and have been winning games as of late. New Orleans finished 3-1 in their annual Mardi Gras trip and are currently on a three-game winning streak, their longest since starting the season at 4-0.
Relive last night's THIRD STRAIGHT WIN! #PelicansGameday | #doitBIG pic.twitter.com/g78gv5iSlE
— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) March 5, 2019
Jrue Holiday and Julius Randle have taken over the Pelicans. Holiday leads the team with 21.3 points and 7.8 assists per game while also averaging 3.9 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game. Randle is having his best NBA season with 20.7 points and 8.9 rebounds per game while E’Twaun Moore is scoring 12.1 points per game. Elfrid Payton is making up for lost time with 9.9 points and 6.7 rebounds per game.
New Orleans has the 3rd highest-scoring offense in the NBA at 116.0 points per game. The Pelicans are ranked 4th in passing at 27.0 assists per game and they are also 4th in rebounding at 47.1 boards grabbed per contest. New Orleans has the 5th worst scoring defense in the league at 115.0 opponent points per game allowed.
Who Wins?
The Jazz are 6-4 SU in their last 10 games played and Utah is 1-2 SU its last three road games played. The Pelicans are 5-5 SU in their last 10 games played and 2-2 SU in their last four home games. Head to head, the Jazz are 8-2 SU in their last 10 games against the Pelicans.
You have to give credit to the Pelicans for being able to focus despite the obvious distraction and even win games as of late. New Orleans’ ploy of limiting Anthony Davis’ minutes to about 20 minutes per game and sitting him out on the second of back to back games has paid off. New Orleans beat this same Utah team just last Monday 115-112 in Utah.
The Jazz have been on a roll since the turn of the calendar. Despite their loss to the Pelicans on Monday night, the Jazz are 18-7 since January 1, 2019 which is a huge turnaround after finishing 2018 with an 18-20 record. Utah is also about to get a big break as 15 out of their final 20 opponents have a winning percentage of .500 or below.
For sure, Monday’s loss is still in Utah’s mind and they want it back. The Jazz beat the Pelicans by 21 points in their first meeting of the season. They also led by 14 on Monday before the Pelicans closed out strong. Quinn Snyder should make adjustments this time around.
I’m picking the Utah Jazz to beat the New Orleans Pelicans on 3/6/19.
Other Bets To Make
Utah is 6-4 ATS in its last 10 games played and the Jazz are 3-0 ATS in their last three road games. New Orleans is 7-3 ATS in its last 10 games played and the Pelicans are 3-1 ATS in their last four home games played. Head to head, the Jazz are 7-2-1 ATS in their last 10 meetings with the Pelicans.
Jazz
-4 (-112)
Pelicans
+4 (-108)
Odds from betonline.ag as of 3/06/19
The Jazz are 5-1 ATS in their last six road games, 6-2 ATS in their last eight games against Western Conference teams and 15-7-2 ATS in their last 24 games when playing on one day rest. On the other hand, the Pelicans are 4-1 ATS in their last five games when playing on one day rest, 5-2 ATS in their last seven home games and 5-1 ATS in their last six games overall. Both teams have played well against the spread but Utah has dominated this match-up. The Jazz are 9-1-1 ATS in their last 11 meetings in New Orleans and 7-2-1 ATS in their last 10 head to head meetings.
Prediction: Jazz -4
The over is 3-2 in the Jazz last five games played and the over is 16-15 in their 31 road games played this season. The over is 5-3 in the Pelicans’ last eight games played and the total has gone over in 11 out of the 19 home games played by New Orleans against Western Conference teams.
Jazz
O 231.5 -110
Pelicans
U 231.5 -110
Odds from betonline.ag as of 3/06/19
Utah has one of the best defenses in the league and their defense has been on point lately, limiting their opponents to 42% shooting in their last five games played. But the Jazz can score when needed and in fact, they are averaging 122 points per game in two games against the Pelicans this season. The over is 15-5 in the last 20 head to head meetings, 10-1 in their last 11 games in New Orleans, 4-1 in the Pelicans’ last five games against teams with a winning SU record and 4-1 in the Jazz last five games after an SU loss. These teams have engaged in several high scoring duels lately. This one should be one of those.
Prediction: Over 231.5
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