The Golden State Warriors will host the New Orleans Pelicans on tonight’s late NBA slate. Stephen Curry should return to their starting lineup soon, but he won’t be available tonight. The Pelicans will also remain without center Jonas Valanciunas and forward Zion Williamson. Bettors looking for sharp NBA Pelicans-Warriors player props should buy this one at DraftKings — the book has left a bit too much value on the Kevon Looney player prop markets. Make sure to check out OddsShopper’s tools for other sharp plays.
Best Pelicans-Warriors NBA Player Prop | Kevon Looney
Kevon Looney O/U 0.5 Blocks
The Golden State Warriors may play a fair amount of small ball tonight, especially with the Pelicans down their top two centers, Jonas Valanciunas and Larry Nance Jr. However, the Pelicans still trotted out Willy Hernangomez and Jaxson Hayes at the five for 37 minutes on Wednesday, so Golden State will still need the services of center Kevon Looney for some of Friday night’s action. Despite Golden State’s penchant for running without a traditional five, Looney is averaging 23.5 minutes per game this year and 24.2 during Curry’s ongoing absence.
Looney protects the rim effectively and should benefit from tonight’s matchup. He averages 0.57 blocks per game. That number ticks up to 0.61 in home games. Looney has also averaged 0.7 blocks per game since the start of February. He lines up against a New Orleans Pelicans squad missing multiple key offensive pieces. That means their backups will step in and take worse shots. The Pelicans rank 22nd in blocks allowed per game (5.1). Portland’s defense swatted a whopping eight shots in their last contest. Center Drew Eubanks accounted for two of those blocks.
The Pelicans have been struggling with shot selection lately, and opposing centers have capitalized. They have allowed the fifth-most blocks per game to centers over the last seven games (2.6) and the second-most over the last 15 games (2.7). Their reliance on backup bigs has hurt — Hernangomez and Herbert Jones both got blocked twice on Wednesday. Looney should play plenty of minutes with those two both present on the floor.
The books have the total for this prop (0.5) set correctly but have stacked the juice in the wrong direction. Looney should be favored to get a block, not favored to go without one. Bettors can lock in the over at -105 via DraftKings Sportsbook. Readers yet to register at DraftKings can score $150 in bonus bets after winning a pre-game moneyline wager!
Best Pelicans-Warriors Player Prop: Kevon Looney Over 0.5 Blocks (-105 for 0.52 Unit) at DraftKings
