San Antonio Spurs vs New Orleans Pelicans Prediction, 12/22/2022 Preview and Pick

Game: San Antonio Spurs vs New Orleans Pelicans

Date: Thursday, December 22, 2022

Location: Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, LA

TV: Bally Sports New Orleans

Smoothie King Center is the location where the New Orleans Pelicans will try to defeat the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday.

The Spurs faced off with the Rockets and walked away with a win by a score of 124-105 in their last game. San Antonio ended the contest with a 55.4% FG percentage (46 of 83) and knocked down 17 of 34 shots from distance. From the free throw line, the Spurs buried 15 of their 19 tries for a rate of 78.9%. Concerning grabbing boards, they compiled 46 with 9 of them being of the offensive variety. They also recorded 30 assists for this contest in addition to forcing 11 turnovers and earning 6 steals. When it comes to defense, San Antonio allowed the other team to go 42.6% from the floor on 40 of 94 shooting. Houston distributed 23 assists and had 13 steals for this game. In addition, Houston had 41 boards (16 offensive, 25 defensive) and had 6 blocks. Houston went 64.5% at the charity stripe by knocking down 20 of their 31 attempts. They made 5 of 24 attempts from long range. In reference to personal fouls, the Spurs walked away with 23 while the Rockets recorded 16 personal fouls.

Devin Vassell is a guy who came through for the contest. He accumulated 26 points on 10 out of 17 shooting. He was on the court for 29 mins played and grabbed 4 boards. Vassell finished the game shooting 58.8% from the floor and also dished out 5 dimes.

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San Antonio steps onto the hardwood with a win-loss record of 10-20 this year. They are averaging 110.3 points per outing (26th in basketball) while hitting 46.5% from the floor. The Spurs are shooting 34.6% on shots from 3-point land (346 of 999) and 72.7% from the charity stripe. As a team, San Antonio is collecting 42.5 rebounds per game and has earned 823 assists this season, which has them ranked 6th in the NBA in terms of passing. They turn it over 16.2 times per game and as a basketball team are committing 19.8 fouls per game.

On defense, the Spurs are forcing 14.9 turnovers on a nightly basis while drawing 18.8 fouls. They concede 38.9% on shots from downtown and they rank 30th in the NBA in points per game from their opponents (119.5). The Spurs defensively are allowing a field goal percentage of 50.5% (1,349 of 2,673) and they relinquish 43.5 boards per game as a team. They are currently ranked 26th in basketball in giving up assists with 815 surrendered this season.

When they last stepped on the hardwood, the Pelicans took a loss by a final score of 128-119 when they played the Bucks. The Pelicans were able to snag 27 defensive boards and 17 offensive rebounds for a total of 44 for the matchup. They gave up possession 15 times, while earning 9 steals for this game. The Bucks had 21 personal fouls in the matchup which got the Pelicans to the free throw line for 24 tries. They were able to convert 17 of the free throws for a rate of 70.8%. With respect to 3-point shots, New Orleans converted 18 of 45 attempts (40.0%). Overall, the Pelicans ended up shooting 42 out of 99 from the floor which had them sitting at 42.4%. The Pelicans allowed the Bucks to convert 45 of their 81 tries from the floor which had them sitting at 55.6% for the contest. They wrapped up this game 32.5% from three-point range by going 13 out of 40 and ended up going 25 out of 31 from the free throw line (80.6%). When talking about how they cleaned up the glass, New Orleans allowed Milwaukee to get 44 in all (8 offensive).

Jonas Valanciunas was important for the Pelicans for the game. Valanciunas had 37 points in his 37 minutes on the hardwood and earned 5 dimes for the matchup. He knocked down 14 out of 24 in the game for a field goal rate of 58.3%, and accumulated 18 rebounds.

New Orleans has a mark of 18-12 so far this year. As an offense, the Pelicans are connecting on 48.5% from the floor, which has them ranked 5th in the league. New Orleans has scored 3,520 points on the season (117.3 per contest) and they collect 44.9 rebounds per contest. They are dishing out assists 27.0 times per contest (6th in basketball) and they turn it over 15.0 times per contest. The Pelicans are committing 20.2 personal fouls every game and they hit 78.4% from the charity stripe.

The New Orleans defense gives up 33.7% on shots from 3-point land (384 of 1,138) and opponents are connecting on 78.1% of their free throw attempts. They have conceded 25.5 dimes and 42.3 total boards per game, which is ranked 18th and 7th in basketball. The Pelicans on defense are ranked 14th in the NBA in points allowed per game with 112.5. They are forcing 16.1 turnovers on a nightly basis and have allowed teams to shoot 46.4% from the field (9th in basketball).

Who will win tonight's NBA game against the spread?

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take New Orleans

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