It’s win or go home for both the San Antonio Spurs this Wednesday in the Play-in tournament. Which team will advance to the next phase of the Play-in? Which will be packing for an early vacation? Check out our preview below of this Spurs-Pelicans contest.
Despite losing all their last three games to end the regular season, the Spurs are still standing with a chance to advance to the playoff proper. In their last outing, the Spurs absorbed a 130-120 loss on the road to the Dallas Mavericks. If anything, at least the Spurs got star point guard Dejounte Murray back after he missed games because of an illness. Murray tallied 17 points with 7 assists, and 3 steals in the Mavs game, and could even get better now that he’s knocked the rusts off. San Antonio has beaten the Pelicans three times in four meetings in the regular season, including two in New Orleans. Gregg Popovich’s team came out on top in the last meeting with the Pelicans, scoring a 107-103 victory on the road on Mar. 26, with Keldon Johnson scoring 21 points and Murray laying out a triple-double of 15 points, 11 rebounds, and 13 assists.
The Spurs are 8-2 against the spread in their last 10 games versus New Orleans.
Even without Zion Williamson for an entire regular season, the Pelicans have a shot at entering the playoffs proper. But first, they got to deal with the Spurs and worry about the next phase of the Play-in later. New Orleans is coming off a 128-107 home loss at the hands of the Golden State Warriors Sunday, though that was also a game in which the Pelicans rested plenty of key players, including Brandon Ingram, Devonte Graham, and Jonas Valanciunas. They are all expected to return to action for this all-important matchup against the Spurs, whom New Orleans has defeated once this season. CJ McCollum scored 20 points and Valanciunas had a double-double of 16 points and 12 rebounds in a 124-91 home win against the Spurs on Mar. 18.
The Pelicans are 3-2 against the spread in their last five home games.
