557 Pelicans (-1.5) over Kings
The Pelicans are 11-8 SU and 10-8-1 ATS in the games Zion has played in and I think if they would’ve had him healthy for majority of the season they’d be a higher seed than just fighting for the 8th spot but they still have a shot to chase down Memphis coming down the stretch to end the season. Zion is the best player for the Pelicans and that’s saying a lot considering they have Brandon Ingram having a career year while being named an all-star for the first time plus the advanced analytics support that. His net rating is the highest on the team (+10.4) and his on/off court rating +13.9 also highest on the team and one of the highest in the league. The Pelicans have a couple big advantages working in their favor for this matchup and the biggest one is they’ll have Zion for this matchup and the other one is back on 1/4 in the first matchup between these teams the Kings had an uncharacteristic shooting night from 3 shooting 57% and I don’t see them shooting that well again from distance. The Pelicans are 4-0 SU and ATS in their last 4 road games vs Western Conference non playoff teams with an ATS margin of +21.5. The Pelicans are 6-0 ATS in their last 6 games as road favorites, 7-0 ATS in their last 7 road games vs a team with a losing home record, 8-1 ATS in their last 9 games playing on 2 days of rest, 5-1 ATS in their last 6 meetings vs the Kings and 4-1 ATS in the last 5 meetings in Sacramento.