The New Orleans Pelicans added Zion Williamson to their injury report on Tuesday morning with a non-COVID illness. Williamson had not appeared on it before, and it’s unclear when the symptoms started. He is now questionable for tonight’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies. Let’s dive into the most recent Zion Williamson injury update for Tuesday to discuss his odds of playing and a player prop pick. If you’re hungry for more action, check out our NBA player prop bets, our NBA betting tools or our NBA betting promos!
Zion Williamson Injury Update: Is New Orleans’ Star Playing Tonight?
Is Zion Williamson Playing for the New Orleans Pelicans Tonight?
Surprisingly, Zion Williamson is now questionable for the New Orleans Pelicans tonight due to an illness. Williamson did not make the initial injury report for New Orleans, which must be submitted on the afternoon before the game in question, so his symptoms likely developed last night or this morning.
Williamson and the Pelicans last played the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday. The team won’t play again until Thursday, so questions of load management are unlikely to be at the root here, even if Williamsons’ poor conditioning does make such questions worth asking.
The betting markets responded to the news by, well, not responding. The Pelicans opened as a 7.5-point home favorite and are now trading as a 7-point home favorite over an hour after the news broke. Williamson’s points prop still sits at 22.5, which is exactly his season average.
The lack of line movement in response to Williamson’s illness is interesting and suggests that most sharps expect him to play. The alternative is that they don’t value his contributions to the Pelicans that much, which is unlikely, considering the Pelicans are 2-3 without him, beating only the Washington Wizards and Detroit Pistons.
C.J. McCollum Player Prop Pick
Regardless of whether Williamson plays, this C.J. McCollum player prop pick has value — but it certainly has more value if Zion sits or is limited. McCollum is averaging 3.5 3-pointers per game without Zion and 3.1 per game with him. McCollum has gone over in both of his starts without Zion and in seven of his 12 with him.
I’m buying the standard over and laddering McCollum’s 3-pointers to 3.5 (+190 at FanDuel) in this spot. He recorded a season-high six 3-pointers against the Memphis Grizzlies earlier in the year. He is averaging 3.9 3-pointers per game against them since joining the Pelicans, tallying at least four makes in four of seven games. It helps that Memphis’ defense is allowing the fewest points in the paint but the most made above-the-break 3-pointers per game this year (11.2). McCollum leads the Pelicans in above-the-break 3-pointers made (2.8) and attempted (6.5) per game.
C.J. McCollum Player Prop Pick: Over 2.5 3-Pointers -140 at DraftKings
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