Filip Tomic
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It’s a win-or-go-home scenario as the 10th seed San Antonio Spurs and the 9th seeded New Orleans Pelicans clash in the Western Conference play-in game. Watch the game live on ESPN from 9:30 pm ET, and I’ve prepared a same game parlay which you can find below.
We’ve also got free picks for the side and total of every NBA playoff game, so make sure you check those out as well.
Now, let’s get into the Spurs vs Pelicans!
Dejounte Murray to score 30+ points (+285)
CJ McCollum to score 25+ points (-166)
Jonas Valanciunas over 3.5 1st quarter points (+104)
Parlay odds: +1057
Dejounte Murray to score 30+ points (+285)
Games like these are where players in the NBA make a name for themselves, and for a young player like Murray, it’s a great opportunity to prove himself even more after a really solid season for San Antonio. He finished the regular season averaging 21.1 points per game, over his last 5 he has upped that to 25.2 per game and in 2 of his last 3 he had 33 points against the Grizzlies and Rockets.
In 4 meetings with the Pelicans, he’s averaged 18.3 points per game, however in 1 of those games played at the Smoothie King Center he had 31 points and 12 assists as he carried the Spurs to a 10-point win. With a game like that on Wednesday, he’d put his team in a really solid position. Let’s see if he has what it takes to come up big in the most crucial game of the season for coach Popovich who has a lot of faith in him.
Be sure to check out our full game preview for San Antonio Spurs vs New Orleans Pelicans
CJ McCollum to score 25+ points (-166)
CJ is the leading scorer for the Pelicans this season and it only took him 26 games since being acquired from Portland to accomplish that. He averages 24.3 points per game for them and over his last 10 he’s been very efficient from the field connecting on almost 47% of shots from the field and 39.7% from three-point land. At Smoothie King Arena he’s averaging 25.7 points per game in 13 played making over 50% of his shots.
Against San Antonio, McCollum’s average is 26 points per game while playing just 33 minutes per game in 4 meetings. With their season on the line, you’d think his minutes will go way up here, which means more opportunities to score. These Spurs have had serious issues defending lately, in 2 of their last 3 games the Dallas Mavericks and Minnesota Timberwolves put 130 and 127 points past them. The Pelicans are a juggernaut offensively and CJ is a big part of that, I expect him to take the role of the main scorer here and carry the Pels to a victory.
Former NBA champion Brian Scalabrine on the play-in and his best bets for Wednesday
Jonas Valanciunas over 3.5 1st quarter points (+104)
The Spurs have had serious issues when it comes to defending the paint all year long. They are allowing 50.2 points per game inside the area, which ranks only 26th in the NBA. Below them are teams like Sacramento, Indiana, the Lakers and the Rockets, who have all been eliminated from the playoffs. That should be a welcome sign for Pelicans big man Valanciunas.
The Lithuanian is averaging 4.5 points per game in the 1st quarter this season, setting a tone early will be key for him if he plans on having a good game here. And he’s had plenty of those this season against the Spurs, going for a double-double in each of the 4 meetings. He averaged 17 points and 11.8 rebounds in those games on really good efficiency, there’s no doubt in my mind he’s able to score at least 2 baskets in the opening 12 minutes of play here.
Don’t forget to read our same game parlay for Hornets vs Hawks (+1347 odds!)
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