Free NBA Pick: Jazz vs. Pelicans NBA Odds
Looking for Utah Jazz vs. New Orleans Pelicans free NBA picks & NBA odds? NBA betting sees the Jazz taking on the Pelicans on Sunday, October 23, 2022 at Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, LA. Cappers Picks provides complimentary expert handicapping picks on all NBA basketball matchups so stay tuned for more FREE daily NBA hoops predictions like this Jazz-Pelicans matchup.
2022 NBA Handicapping
(2-0) Utah Jazz vs. New Orleans Pelicans (2-0)
Date: Sunday, October 23
Time: 7:00 PM EST
Venue: Smoothie King Center
NBA Moneyline Odds: Jazz +246 | Pelicans -322 (Bet Now!)
NBA Betting Odds: NOLA -7
NBA Betting Total: 230
The Jazz and Pelicans enter this contest each at a perfect 2-0, and while not everyone was bullish enough to consider NOLA a true contender (although many see them as a dark horse), absolutely no one was bullish enough to think Utah would earn back-to-back wins over the Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves to tip off their season.
Something’s got to give in this contest between undefeated teams, and quite frankly, you shouldn’t overthink which one has more to play for.
Utah Jazz
The Utah Jazz have exactly one thing to play for.
Victor Wembanyama. Not actual wins this season.
Utah winning its first two games is good for morale and gives the fans something to cheer about, but this is a group actively trying to lose games with the big picture in mind. Once we get 20, maybe 30 games into the year it will be clear how deep the Wemby-or-Bust tank group goes. But at the start of the year, only a small handful of franchises are shameless enough to lean into it.
We thought Utah was one of them. The Jazz should prove to be in that small group before too long. But to tip off the season, it’s gathered a shocking 123-102 win over the Denver Nuggets, and it took down Minnesota (new home to Rudy Gobert, by the way), 132-126.
Collin Sexton and Lauri Markkanen have looked good in their new, pressure-less roles.
How long can that keep up? It might not be as long as Jazz dreamers suddenly excited by wins might hope.
New Orleans Pelicans
The “good news” for the Jazz is that they’re not supposed to be winning games at this point. And the Pelicans should bring them back down to Earth.
Entering this contest, the Pels are coming off of a solid 124-112 win over the Charlotte Hornets—a contest in which they were 6.5-point road favorites. They also beat the Brooklyn Nets on opening night, 130-108, after being 3.5-point underdogs on the road.
New Orleans really does look the part of contender-spoiler, if not contender outright. There’s a lot of optimism around the team finally getting to see what the trio (dare I say “Big Three”…) of CJ McCollum, Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson can do.
The early returns? They’re good. Good to the point that all three scored at least 20 points in their first outing, and in their second, Zion went for 16 while Jonas Valanciunas stepped into the 20-club, going for 30 points and 17 rebounds.
This team goes deep. And if you ask the smartest basketball analyst you know, they’ll be disappointed we’re not giving any credit to Herb Jones (who is admittedly proving he’s a crucial part of the rotation in as lowkey a fashion as you’ll see among NBA youngsters).
NBA Betting Trends:
- Over is 10-1 in Jazz last 11 vs. a team with a winning straight up record.
- Jazz are 0-6 ATS in their last 6 games after scoring more than 125 points in their previous game.
- Over is 6-1 in Pelicans last 7 overall.
- Over is 4-0 in Pelicans last 4 home games.
- Over is 22-10 in the last 32 meetings.
Free Utah Jazz vs. New Orleans Pelicans NBA Prediction:
Nobody is saying that Game 3 of the season decides anyone’s fate, but this could be one of those early-season contests that clears the muddied waters just a bit.
The Jazz don’t belong anywhere near the top of the standings, and the Pelicans should start the process of making that clear.
New Orleans wins at home, and it wins big.
4* Free NBA Betting Pick: Pelicans -7
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