New Orleans Pelicans (-2.5) at Denver Nuggets 9:05 ET
2* New Orleans (-2.5)
2-0 THIS WEEK WITH MY NBA BETS
Despite a recent uptick, the Denver Nuggets continue to languish in the Western conference standings at 4-7 SU. This on the heels of a 36-46 SU campaign in 2014 that saw them finish 13 games out of the promised playoff land. At the other end of the spectrum is a New Orleans team, who is on the rise. New Orleans was 27-55 SU in 2013, improved to 34-48 SU in 2014, and has now begun the year 6-4 SU good for 8th place n the Western playoff queue.
Series history speaks loudly to the Denver Nuggets here. The home team has won and covered 9 straight in this series, including 5 straight by the Nuggets on this floor, where they have defeated the Pelicans by an average of 17 PPG. Following a 1-6 SU start, it appears that Denver has turned around their season with a 3-1 SU record. In that span, the normally porous Nugget defense, which had allowed 111 PPG the 1st seven games, has allowed just 98 PPG. A closer inspection of the schedule shows that included in that 4 game span were contests against the impotent offenses of Indiana (averaging 92 PPG), NY (averaging 95 PPG), and OKC (averaging 90 PPG), all among the worst in the league. Now that Denver is again facing a playoff quality opponent, expect them to return to their form of the last 1+ seasons.
There are tangible reasons why New Orleans is on the rise. Let’s begin with the health of a quality backcourt which includes PG Holiday, Tyreque Evans, and Eric Gordon. These three all missed meaningful playing time last season, which impeded the Pelicans’ progress. On the interior, Anthony Davis, an emerging superstar has been joined by Asik and Ryan Anderson, who contributed 17 the previous game in the absence of Asik. The Pelicans have gone on their own mini-run of late with a 3-1 SU mark, in which they have averaged 112 PPG on 54% shooting. Notable YTD reasons why this team will be a serious contender for a playoff berth, includes the facts that they are No. 1 in the league with 50 points in the paint per game and No. 1 in the league with just 11 TOs per game.
When you take care of the basketball and dominate the paint, a lot of good things happen to your basketball team. Expect that to be exactly the case with this New Orleans team, as they continue their ascent in the conference standings, while breaking the series’ stranglehold of the host (a far inferior Denver team).