Daily Picks 10/31: Pelicans Or Pelicant's?
Denver Nuggets @ New Orleans Pelicans (+8.5), TNT, 9:30 PM ET:
The Denver Nuggets will travel to the winless New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday night.
Denver will look to rebound after suffering its first loss of the young season.
Paul Millsap finished with 23 points and eight rebounds and Nikola Jokic came away with a 10-point, 10-rebound and 10-assist triple-double performance, but the Nuggets fell 109-106 to the Dallas Mavericks.
Will Barton added 19 points and 11 rebounds, Gary Harris had 16 points, five rebounds and four assists and Jamal Murray had 16 points and six rebounds as all five starters for the Nuggets had double-digit point totals.
Luka Doncic led the Mavericks with 12 points, four rebounds and five assists in the win.
The Pelicans, on the other hand, are just seeking their first win of the year.
New Orleans has allowed 123 points or more in each of their four losses (an average of 128.3 points).
Brandon Ingram finished with 27 points, 10 rebounds, six assists, two steals and one block and Lonzo Ball had 12 points, four rebounds, nine assists and two steals for the Pelicans in a 134-123 loss to the Golden State Warriors.
Jaxson Hayes added 19 points off the bench and Kenrich Williams and Nickeil Alexander-Walker chipped in 16 and 15 points respectively for the Pelicans.
Steph Curry led the Warriors with 26 points and 11 assists and Draymond Green put together a triple-double as he finished with 16 points, 17 rebounds and 10 assists.
The Nuggets will look to bounce back on the defensive end of the court in this one. After conceding an average of 100.3 points in their first three games, the Nuggets allowed nine players to score in double figures in the loss to the Mavericks.
New Orleans fell behind by 20 points in the second quarter and trailed by as many as 29 in the game against the Warriors, but the Pelicans scored 44 points in the fourth quarter and finished on an impressive 24-6 run.
They will look to carry that momentum into this home game against the Nuggets.
I believe this is the game the Pelicans have a really good chance at winning.
Take New Orleans plus the points in this matchup.
1u - Pelicans (+8.5) @ -110