NBA Expert Picks and Predictions: How We Bet Pelicans-Jazz, Lakers-Clippers

The NBA is back! After a layoff of more than four months, the Orlando bubble will kick off with a beautiful double header featuring the league’s biggest stars.

• 6:30 pm ET: Utah Jazz vs. New Orleans Pelicans
• 9 pm ET: Los Angeles Clippers vs. LA Lakers

Our staff is here to place your favorite bets of the night below.

Thursday NBA Betting Picks

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I don’t know why the Clippers are helpless against anyone right now, much less a five-point dog. Yes, they lack Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell, but no team is better equipped to handle the absences of two players than the Clippers right now. I could even argue that the Clippers would be better off channeling those minutes to guys like Patrick Beverley, Marcus Morris, and Ivica Zubac.

As for the game itself, the Clippers fit well against the Lakers. With Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, they have two of the best wing defenders in the league to pitch to LeBron James, who remains the key to the Lakers’ success. They will miss Harrell’s presence against Davis, who has spent most of the time as his main defender this season, but they should be able to rebuild him.

The Clippers are my choice to win the title when all is said and done, so I will gladly fade away and earn points.

The choice: Clippers +5 (I’d play anything better than Clippers +2.5)

[Bet$20+nowonPointsBety[Bet+nowatPointsBetand[Apueste+ahoraenPointsBety[Bet+nowatPointsBetandWin $ 125 if the Clippers make at least a triple]

Basketball is back! We have waited so long We deserve this, 2020.

No one knows what to expect in these games; We are all guessing a little bit right now. Until proven otherwise, my theory is that defense will be sharper than attack. I think filming might suffer a bit in these new gyms, and the offense is usually a little slower at the start of a season, which it actually is.

Both Los Angeles teams have less than more than this year, and the Junior Clippers are 6-2 this season when underdogs. It appears that the Clippers will miss a full roster of players, while the Lakers have few guards.

I feel like this might be a little choppy as each team gets back into the flow. Neither the Lakers nor the Clippers have much to play for until the playoffs, so if a team pulls out, I’d expect the final team to be easy and not show too many cards. There are many ways for it to sink. But hey, at least it’s live basketball on our screens!

The choice: less than 218 (I’d bet this on 215)

[Bet now at DraftKings. CO, NJ, PA, IN and WV only.]

While everyone is obsessed with the Los Angeles showdown (in Florida, because 2020 is weird as hell), I’m focused on this Jazz-Pelicans game. The two combined for an average of 257.3 points at their regular season meetings. The lines in those games were 223.5. The Jazz are a much better offensive team than last year and a much worse defensive team.

Even without Bojan Bogdanović, Utah has weapons, and Mike Conley seems to feel good. Meanwhile, Pelicans can move the ball smoothly in a giant of an offensive lineup. Scrimmages have featured a higher offensive rating than preseason games, and the overall pace has increased as teams remove their rust.

Give me the total up to 230. The losing team in the three regular season meetings averaged over 120 points.

The choice: more than 227 (would play better than 230)

[Bet now at DraftKings. CO, NJ, PA, IN and WV only.]

Let’s take a look at Pelicans games totals before closing. His final game against Minnesota closed at 248.5. A couple of days earlier against the Mavericks, 240. Against the Wolves again, 247. Even against the Lakers, a good defensive team like the Jazz, 235.5.

And now we see a total less than 230 because … the bubble?

Personally, I think the absence could further harm the defenses: people think of chemistry with offenses, but honestly it’s more important at the other end of the floor where teams have to move in unison to defend sets and pick rolls.

The Pelicans have also played super fast since Zion Williamson entered the lineup, and I think they will get the Jazz moving as well. Given that argument plus the trends Matt previously highlighted, I also like the one here.

The choice: over 227 (I’d play anything up to 229)

[Bet now at DraftKings. CO, NJ, PA, IN and WV only.]

Much has been done for the loss of Bojan Bogdanovic, who is out for the season after choosing to undergo wrist surgery in May. In his first season with the Jazz, Bogdanovic averaged 20.2 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 33.1 minutes per game. The Utah Jazz are shooting 40.7% of their field goal attempts from a 3-point range, and Bogdanovic was their best 3-point shooter, hitting 41.4% in 7.3 attempts per game.

How do the Jazz make up for the loss? The greatest benefactor is Joe Ingles. Bogdanovic’s addition sent Ingles to the bench to play the role of sixth man, decreasing his minutes from 31.3 per game to 29.9 and his PPG from 12.1 to 9.8. Ingles, who was Utah’s second-best 3-point shooter with 39.7% of his 3, saw his attempts drop from 5.9 to 4.8 per game this season.

In Utah’s final blow against the Brooklyn Nets, Ingles threw six 3-point attempts in 21 minutes. Expect a spike in minutes, shot attempts and points for the rest of the season from Ingles.

The market is still pricing this line as if Bogdanovic was playing, and the Pelicans are playing at the second-fastest pace per game at 103.96, which should lead to more possessions tonight. I hope that the English accessories will be priced higher in the future, so this is the best time to capitalize.

I like English with more than 10.5 points. You can bet this up to 12.

The choice: English over 10.5 (PointsBet)

[Bet now at PointsBet. NJ and IN only.]

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