The New Orleans Pelicans have been placed on national television several times early in the season, and that was due to the No. 1 overall pick of Zion Williamson. However, the former Duke star is getting a delayed start to his NBA career because of a knee injury and the team has struggled without him. The Pelicans will aim to get back on the right track when they host the Denver Nuggets on Halloween. It won’t be an easy game as Denver has one of the most talented rosters in the NBA.
This NBA regular season game between the Denver Nuggets and New Orleans Pelicans will be held at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana at 9:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, October 31st, 2019. The game will be nationally televised on TNT.
We'll have NBA odds at BookMaker.eu available for every game of the 2019 NBA season.
Odds Analysis
The line for this game has not yet been released but the Nuggets are expected to be slight road favorites. The Pelicans have been scoring and allowing points at a prolific pace, so the scoring total could be pretty high for this affair.
Key Stat
128.2. That’s the number of points per game the Pelicans have given in their first four contests, all of which have been losses. New Orleans allowed 130 in its opener against the Raptors, although there was an overtime session which helped inflate that number. The Mavericks then scored 123 and the Rockets had 126. Golden State set a season-high with 134 points against New Orleans.
Denver is only averaging 108 points per game this year but that is only through two games and has the talent to score in bunches. The Pelicans have some talent but much of it is young. The team needs to put an emphasis on defense moving forward or else it will find itself out of the playoff race quickly in a talented Western Conference.
Player to Watch
Nikola Jokic -- The Pelicans will have their hands full down low with one of the best young centers in the NBA. Jokic had a great season in 2018-19 and is once again off to a great start. He leads Denver in points, rebounds and assists. Jokic is averaging 21.5 points, 13.5 rebounds and 7.0 assists per contest while shooting 50 percent from the field.
Jokic is a big body who is able to move defenders easily. He is also an elite passer for a big man, which makes it hard to defend him. The Nuggets legitimately believe they can compete for the top seed in the West this year, and the race is more wide open with the Warriors no longer looking like a juggernaut. There are some nice pieces on this team but the group starts with the elite talent of Jokic.
NBA Pick
The Pelicans have been competitive this season but have yet to come away with a win. Williamson’s absence is big, and now the team is dealing with a knee sprain for point guard Jrue Holiday. He didn’t play on Monday and it is unclear if he will be available in this matchup. The Nuggets are pretty healthy so if Holiday doesn’t play that’s a big plus for Denver.
The Nuggets are the better team and they should be able to take advantage of the Pelicans’ poor defense to capture this contest. Keep an eye on the total as the “under” could be the right play if fatigue plays a role as Denver has to fly to different games multiple times this week. That could make the Nuggets play slower than usual.
NBA Pick: Denver Nuggets 117, New Orleans Pelicans 113
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