Denver Nuggets vs. New Orleans Pelicans Prediction: Injury Report, Starting 5s, Betting Odds & Spreads - December 4 | 2022-23 NBA Season

The New Orleans Pelicans host the Denver Nuggets at the Smoothie King Center on Sunday (December 4) in NBA Regular Season action. Both sides have identical records coming into this game, sitting in 2nd and 3rd place in the Western Conference standings respectively.

The one contrast between the two sides is their recent form. The Pelicans arrive with a formidable 3-game win streak while the Nuggets lost their last game after going on a 4-game win streak prior to that.

The Pelicans come into this game on the back of a great run of form, having won all of their previous three games. In the most recent game, they faced the San Antonio Spurs and beat them quite comprehensively. There has been a tremendous upturn in Zion Williamson's form. He has been playing outstanding basketball on the regular. He starred in their victory over the Spurs, scoring 30 points, 15 rebounds, and a career-high 8 assists.

Zion is well and truly back to his best after missing the entirety of last season through injury. He has registered only three 30+ point games this season and all of those performances have come in the last five. His output is a major deciding factor in whether the Pelicans win the game or not. In four of the last five games, he has managed to score 20 points or more. In the one game that he didn’t, the Pelicans lost.

The 14-8 Nuggets have built their success around the magnificent performances of stalwart Nikola Jokic. The two-time reigning MVP is having yet another blinding season, leading his side in points (23), rebounds (10), and assists (9) per game. He has achieved three triple-doubles this campaign, while almost averaging one for the season.

The match details, injury reports, betting odds and predictions are given down below.

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Denver Nuggets vs. New Orleans Pelicans Match Details

Fixture: Denver Nuggets @ New Orleans Pelicans

Date & Time: Sunday, December 4, 3:30 p.m. EST

Venue: Smoothie King Center, New Orleans, Louisiana

Denver Nuggets vs. New Orleans Pelicans Injury Report

TEAM	PLAYER	INJURY	STATUS
Denver Nuggets	Michael Porter Jr.	Heel	Out
New Orleans Pelicans	Brandon Ingram	Toe	Out

Both sides have one major injury each. For the Nuggets, Michael Porter Jr. is still out with a heel injury. For the Pelicans, star forward Brandon Ingram is out with his toe injury, but should be back as early as the next game.

Denver Nuggets vs. New Orleans Pelicans Betting Odds & Spreads

TEAMS	SPREAD	TOTAL	MONEYLINE
Denver Nuggets	+1 (-109)	Over 228.5 (-110)	-107
New Orleans Pelicans	-1 (-107)	Under 228.5 (-110)	-111

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Denver Nuggets vs. New Orleans Pelicans Starting 5s

Denver Nuggets: PG Jamal Murray SG K. Caldwell-Pope SF Bruce Brown PF Aaron Gordon C Nikola Jokic

New Orleans Pelicans: PG CJ McCollum SG Trey Murphy SF D. Seabron PF Z. Williamson C J. Valanciunas

Nuggets vs. Pelicans Betting Prediction

Both teams are as strong as they get in the Western Conference this season. They come into this game with identical form as well as with identical overall records for the season.

But, the one point of difference between the two teams will be how defensively strong they can be. In the last game, the Nuggets were weak in defense, losing against the Hawks who were without their major offensive threat, Trae Young.

If they were to be as frail defensively in this game as well, Zion Williamson and company will run riot. All things considered, this matchup favors the New Orleans Pelicans and they should win.

Pelicans: -9.5 (-112)

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