The San Antonio Spurs face the New Orleans Pelicans for the second time in nine days on Saturday, and this time they might want to show up.
In last Friday's meeting at the AT&T Center, the Spurs came out flat to the tune of a 35-10 first-quarter deficit. Somehow, things only got worse from there. By the end of the night, they'd allowed 50% shooting to the Pelicans to their 36%, losing 124-91.
The Spurs have since won two straight and came off a resounding thumping of the Portland Trail Blazers, 133-96 on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the Pelicans had an impressive 126-109 victory over Chicago on Thursday, their third win in four games.
San Antonio has won two of three matchups so far. They can clinch a potential tiebreaker and move within one game of New Orleans with a victory.
San Antonio Spurs vs New Orleans Pelicans Odds, Spread, Over/Under & Betting Pick
The latest odds from WynnBet have the Spurs as 6 point underdogs against the Pelicans.
Moneyline
New Orleans Pelicans: -260
San Antonio Spurs: +210
The over/under for the matchup is 232.5. The Spurs are averaging 112.9 points per game while the Pelicans are averaging 108.8.
San Antonio Spurs vs. Pelicans Prediction
This is probably going to be the game that decides a lot regarding the play-in tournament. If the Pelicans win, they'll probably be too far for the Spurs to pass up in the standings. At that point, it might be a two-man race between San Antonio and Los Angeles.
I expect this to be a much closer contest than whatever that last meeting was, only because it can't get much worse for the Spurs.
Opponent Role Player to Watch: Spurs fans already know all-too-well about Jonas Valanciunas, and he'll probably be dominant again, for whatever reason. So I'm going with the pesky undrafted rookie guard, Jose Alvarado. He's scored 15 points in two of the last three games and has been a nice pickup for New Orleans.
This is about as close to a toss-up as you can get if both teams play to their potential, and I really have no confidence either way. I'll just go with the home team in a nail-biter, but this game is the definition of unpredictable.
Pelicans 109, Spurs 107
What channel is the San Antonio Spurs game on?
The game will air on Bally Sports Southwest and Bally Sports New Orleans. Tip off is set for 5 p.m. ET.
How to watch a live stream of the Spurs game
For a live stream of the game, check out FuboTV for a free trial!
San Antonio Spurs Next Games and Schedule
The Spurs tip off their final eight games in Houston before heading back home.
Mar. 28 @ Houston
Mar. 30 vs Memphis
Apr. 1 vs Portland