Even with Anthony Davis back, the losses keep piling up down in the Big Easy. Things don’t get any easier on Friday when they host a veteran Spurs team that—as of Tuesday—has won five straight, going 4-1 ATS in that time.
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ODDS ANALYSIS
Six straight losses to open the season and three more after their lone win don’t paint a positive picture going into this Friday night tilt.
Against the spread, things aren’t much better for the Pelicans who recorded back-to-back ATS victories, but have dropped two straight and is just 2-8 ATS through their first 10 games.
San Antonio, on the other hand, continues to play good, solid basketball. They’re in the midst of a five game winning streak and have just two losses SU and three losses ATS all year.
WHEN THE SAN ANTONIO SPURS ARE ON OFFENSE
On a team that’s focused on Tony Parker and Tim Duncan for so long, tides are changing. Forwards Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge are the team’s top scorers now, but playing good fundamental ball is still the goal.
The Spurs are the most accurate shooting team in the sport and have a 47.9% success rate from the floor. They’re also one of the better rebounding teams with 46.8 per game, 7.3 more than the opposition.
Duncan is still a big part of the rebounding. That’s key to any strong team and his 8.6 RPG rank second to Aldridge at 9.5.
The most remarkable thing about the Spurs is how well each player knows his role. Duncan’s role has diminished, yet he still plays his part with class. The same can be said for Parker. They’re both still starters and key players, but they’re no longer the all-stars.
San Antonio still has size with Duncan and Boris Diaw and can dominate in the frontcourt. In their latest game, against the Blazers, we saw just how important the veteran leadership is on this team. They know the importance of closing out a game and also showed how they don’t back down even after things start rocky. The team struggled to do much of anything offensively, early, but got a big game from Manu Ginobili off the bench.
WHEN THE NEW ORLEANS PELICANS ARE ON OFFENSE
Along with accuracy shooting, the Spurs are also quite fundamentally sound defensively, holding the opposition to just 90.6 PPG and a field goal percentage of 42.1%.
Unlike a number of fast break teams that thrive on wearing the other team down, the Spurs control the pace of play in a different way, allowing their skill and execution to shine through.
New Orleans isn’t a great shooting team and will need to try and slow the pace a bit to allow their offense a number of opportunities from the floor.
The Pelicans’ biggest hope in this game is power forward Anthony Davis. He missed a couple games following the team’s lone win over Dallas, but came back with vengeance, scoring 36-points against the Knicks on Sunday. Unfortunately, few others did much in the 95-87 defeat.
On the year, the team’s next big scorer is guard Eric Gordon. He’s got 19.1 PPG, but had just 11 against the Knicks. The shooting guards’ biggest games came without Davis in the lineup.
Keep an eye on whether New Orleans is able to find opportunities for Gordon and company. While Davis is a great player, they need the whole team to produce and play together to get out of this funk and cannot count on Davis alone.
BETTING TRENDS AND MATCHUPS
This should be an easy game for the Spurs as the Pelicans continue to struggle finding a way to play as a cohesive unit.
Keep close tabs on how well San Antonio is able to shutdown Davis and to a lesser extent Gordon. If the Spurs are able to force the rest of the team to pick up the slack, they’ll be in an even better position.
If you’re looking to play on the total, the Spurs are an accurate offensive club, but they are still in the middle of the pack in scoring. That said, the Pelicans are rather poor defensively and the Spurs should be able to exploit poor coverage. The question is whether New Orleans can put up enough points to keep the game close and increase the total.
With the Spurs’ elite defense, that could be tricky.
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BookMaker's live betting platform means you always have access to odds and lines to every sporting event. Click here and start wagering today! The game between the San Antonio Spurs and New Orleans Pelicans is scheduled for Friday, November 20, 2015, at 8 p.m. ET at Smoothie King Arena. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN.
