Preview: San Antonio Spurs at New Orleans Pelicans – Game #56
Bismack Biyombo will try to play well against the Pelicans again (Photo via X)
The San Antonio Spurs continue on the 2025 Rodeo Road Trip with a second consecutive game against the New Orleans Pelicans. On Sunday night, the Pelicans were down early but then annihilated the Spurs by a final score of 114-96. San Antonio’s starters played poorly for the most part but there were a couple positive performances from off the bench.
After tonight’s affair, the Spurs only have two more games on the Rodeo Road Trip: tomorrow night at Houston and Saturday night at Memphis. The Silver and Black will finally be back at home on Sunday versus the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Pelicans had been playing poorly prior to the win over the Spurs. Their previous win in regulation was all the way back on January 17th.
At 24-31, the Spurs are in the 12th spot in the Western Conference. They are four games behind the Sacramento Kings, who currently have the last spot of the play-in tournament.
The Pelicans are 14-43, which is tied with the Utah Jazz for the worst record in the West. In the entire NBA, only the 10-47 Washington Wizards have a worse record.
San Antonio Spurs Injury Update
Charles Bassey will once again be sidelined with a knee injury. This latest injury isn’t believed to be related to the sprained MCL that kept the backup center out of the lineup for more than two weeks. The Spurs haven’t given an update regarding how long Bassey will miss with his latest knee ailment.
San Antonio Spurs Starting Lineup
It appears as if interim head coach Mitch Johnson has settled on a starting five of De’Aaron Fox and Chris Paul at guard, Harrison Barnes and Devin Vassell at forward and Bismack Biyombo at center. Biyombo is currently on his second ten-day contract with the club.
Off the bench, Keldon Johnson has been fantastic since the All-Star break. In three games, he’s averaging 20.3 points per game on 77.4% shooting from the field and 62.5% shooting from the three-point arc. Johnson is doing all of that in only 26.3 minutes per game.
Betting Guide: Spurs at Pelicans
The Pelicans are favored by three points and the over/under is 240.5 points. The smart money is on the over. The Spurs are coming off of a really bad offensive performance so they will look to bounce back on that end of the court. On the other end of the court, without Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio will have trouble stopping any team in the league right now.