Filip Tomic
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It’s a relatively quiet night in the NBA tonight with just 10 teams playing, but we do have a TNT double-header coming our way.
The Brooklyn Nets visit Zion Williamson and the New Orleans Pelicans at 7:30 pm ET, followed by a tasty Western Conference clash between the Los Angeles Clippers and Portland Trail Blazers at 10 pm ET!
We have picks on the side and total for all five games, so make sure you check those out. But for now, let’s focus in on the Nets and Pelicans.
New Orleans Pelicans -2.5 Point Spread (-110)
Zion Williamson to score 30+ Points (+108)
Kyrie Irving Over 29.5 Points (-114)
Steven Adams Over 9.5 Rebounds (-122)
Parlay odds: +1259
New Orleans Pelicans -2.5 Point Spread (-110)
Injuries have hampered the Nets lately, they are playing .500 ball right now having split their last eight games. Two of their best players are missing due to injury and they are in the underdog role according to the bookies here. Brooklyn is more focused on the health of their superstars as opposed to the regular season right now — as long as the big three goes into the post-season healthy they’ll be fine.
The Pelicans are 16-14 at home this season, they are also on a solid run against teams from the Atlantic Division winning six of their last nine games. They will be extra motivated to get a win here after two straight disappointing losses in overtime.
Be sure to check out our full game preview for Brooklyn Nets vs. New Orleans Pelicans.
Zion Williamson to score 30+ Points (+108)
Although he’s only 20 years old, it feels like Zion Williamson is playing like a man amongst boys. In his first game as a pro at Madison Square Garden on Sunday he dropped 34 points on 13/23 shooting — it was his sixth straight game of scoring 20 or more points. In fact, he has averaged 30.8 points per game during that span while shooting an incredible 58 percent from the field, going to the line 8.7 times per contest.
With so many players out, the Nets don’t really have anyone who would be willing to step in front of Zion and take a charge. The high tempo style of play really suits him, I think we could see another 30+ point performance by him.
Kyrie Irving Over 29.5 Points (-114)
Being the lone offensive threat on his team has happened more often than Kyrie would have wanted it to, but that’s the reality he’s in right now. Kevin Durant is out with a thigh contusion, James Harden still hasn’t returned from his hamstring injury and LaMarcus Aldridge has retired because of heart issues. With all three of them missing, the Nets have a hole of 65.5 points that needs to be filled and Irving is the right guy for that. He did struggle against Miami on Sunday, but only because he had to face defenders like Bam Adebayo, Andre Iguodala, and Trevor Ariza all night long. New Orleans doesn’t have such good defenders, so I expect Irving to bounce back here and have his way with Lonzo Ball and Eric Bledsoe.
Steven Adams Over 9.5 Rebounds (-122)
One of the biggest weaknesses of the Brooklyn Nets is rebounding, they rank only 15th in the NBA compared to the Pelicans who are third. In Sunday’s loss at Miami, the Nets were outrebounded by 15 which cost them the game in the end. Steven Adams is one of the biggest reasons the Pelicans rank so high, he is leading them with 9.1 rebounds per game this season and is 12th on the season in total rebounds in the entire NBA. He’s had double-figure rebounds in his last four games and is averaging 13 per game in those four games. In a game in which we expect a ton of points to be scored, there will be a lot more opportunities to grab rebounds and Adams should get to double-figures without any issues here.
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