New Orleans Pelicans vs Utah Jazz Prediction: Position Change Is Going Well
New Orleans Pelicans vs Utah Jazz Prediction: Position Change Is Going Well
1u - CJ McCollum o4.5 AST (-120) (Bet $120 to Win $100)
*Odds available at DraftKings at time of publishing*
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Utah allows the fewest assists to point guards but that hasn't been the case recently. Point guards have been doing some damage against the Jazz in the assist area. Kevin Porter Jr has had games of 12 and as well as Luka with 11 and Booker with 7. CJ has already played against Utah this season with his former team and had 6 assists that game. More impressively was he did then as the non-primary ball-handler and he’s now tasked with PG duties in New Orleans.
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McCollum has hit this prop in 7/8 games as a member of his new team and is averaging 6 assists per game in this span. McCollum is averaging 10.3 assist opportunities per game as a Pelican and last game had 13 assist opportunities that he turned into 9 actual assists. This line just feels an assist too short. I know Utah has a great history of limiting point guards but that just hasn’t been the case lately and I personally don't care about your achievements in November as we now enter March. CJ has done an outstanding job as the floor general and I like his chances to get 3 in one half and 2 in the other.
If McCollum hits this bet for us it may be the last time we see him at a number this low given his new role. We would be crazy not to try to take advantageous of what is clearly a low number for him. He will get the opportunities, it’s just a matter of if his teammates will make their shots. This spread as of right now is only -3.5 in favor of Utah which makes me think that Pels should keep this one close and possibly win outright. If that’s the case McCollum should see the minutes needed to give us our 5. This one just stood out to me too much not to take and I’m not gonna sit there and convince myself out of it.