San Antonio Spurs vs. New Orleans Pelicans Prediction, Preview, Picks & Odds - 3/26/2022

Time: 5 p.m. ET

Venue: Smoothie King Center, New Orleans, LA

Where to watch: Bally Sports New Orleans, Bally Sports Southwest-San Antonio

DraftKings: Pelicans -5

BetMGM: Pelicans -5.5

Caesars: Pelicans -5

Spurs: 29-44

Pelicans: 31-42

You would’ve never thought we’d be in this situation of discussing the New Orleans Pelicans and San Antonio Spurs in the playoffs, huh? Because this is a big one for both of these teams with play-in tournament aspirations.

With nine games left for both teams, it’s pretty simple. A win for the Pelicans can strengthen their chances at solidifying a spot in the 7-10 tourney, while a win for the Spurs can inch them closer with the Pelicans and Los Angeles Lakers for that final spot.

The Pelicans, sitting at 31-42, are tied with the Lakers but hold the tiebreaker to separate the chance from playing the Los Angeles Clippers or Minnesota Timberwolves in that potential 7-10 game. The Spurs are two games back in the standings and can cause a bit of chaos with a win. San Antonio has won three of four with two road wins over the Golden State Warriors and Portland Trail Blazers.

In that win over the Blazers, the Spurs won 133-96 in a runaway effort led by Dejounte Murray going for 28 points in three quarters. San Antonio made 19 3-pointers, one shy of their franchise record. Keldon Johnson added 26 points for San Antonio.

"We didn't want to let them linger around so we took that and ran with it." said Devin Vassell, who finished with 16 points for San Antonio. "If you let a team like that start coming back and feeling good, it's a dogfight."

The Spurs took a bold chance when trading Derrick White to the Boston Celtics, taking away one of their important guards out of the lineup. So far, that’s worked with the Spurs still hanging around. San Antonio shot 48.9 percent from the floor and outrebounded the Blazers 53-43.

"Wins are tough in the NBA. You take them any way you can get them but this obviously wasn't a fair fight," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "They've got a lot of guys out but we still played good basketball. "

But at this time of year, as Popovich would know, it doesn’t matter who you beat or how. The fact that it should just be about getting wins and getting back to the playoffs is all that matters. Especially for the Spurs, who have had a rough go the past couple of years during this rebuild, getting some playoff experience would go a long way in sparking that rebuild.

That memo has also made its way to the Pelicans’ line of thinking, who went all-in, of sorts, to get CJ McCollum and commit to getting to the postseason whether they have Zion Williamson in the lineup or not. So far, it’s been paying off. New Orleans comes in winners of three of four, with one of those victories being a 124-91 win in San Antonio last Friday.

But more impressively, the Pelicans took care of business against the Chicago Bulls on Thursday with a 126-109 victory over one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference. Devonte’ Graham had a team-high 30 points while making five 3-pointers, and McCollum chipped in with 25 against a DeMar DeRozan-less Bulls team.

The Pelicans, who won by 17 points, hit 17 more free throws than the Bulls and outscored them 40-26 in the fourth quarter.

"It was good, man, to see the ball go in, play with confidence. It was fun," Graham said.

Something that we have not considered when discussing New Orleans’ rise to the playoffs: Have we ever considered the chance that the Pels can make the playoffs and Anthony Davis won’t? It might be the greatest heist in the history of basketball if that happens. I’m sort of rooting for it now.

The Pelicans are laying as much as five in this one, and I’m curious if this turns into a shootout with offenses leading the way. The over has cashed in New Orleans’ last four home games, while the under is 4-0 following San Antonio’s last four straight-up wins. If this gets into a shooting contest, I trust the Pelicans to make their shots before the Spurs make 19 threes again. Give me the Pels and avoiding us from this chaos that could potentially be. Pelicans by 12

The Spurs are 22-25 ATS as an underdog this season.

The Spurs are 53-49 ATS after a road game the past three seasons.

The Pelicans are 9-2 ATS following two non-conference games this season.

The over is 33-15 the past three seasons when the Pelicans win four or five of their last six games.

PG: Dejounte Murray

SG: Joshua Primo

SF: Devin Vassell

PF: Keldon Johnson

C: Jakob Poeltl

PG: CJ McCollum

SG: Tony Snell

SF: Herbert Jones

PF: Jaxson Hayes

C: Jonas Valanciunas

Spurs: Lonnie Walker IV (back, out), Doug McDermott (ankle, out), Romeo Langford (hamstring, out)

Pelicans: Zion Williamson (foot, out),

Points: Dejounte Murray -- 20.9

Rebounds: Jakob Poeltl -- 9.2

Assists: Dejounte Murray -- 9.3

Points: Brandon Ingram -- 22.8

Rebounds: Jonas Valanciunas -- 11.6

Assists: Brandon Ingram -- 5.8