Who: New Orleans Pelicans vs. Sacramento Kings
When: Thursday, Aug. 6, 1:30 p.m ET
How to watch: Fox Sports New Orleans, NBA TV
Odds: Pelicans -4.5, o/u 232.5
Coming into the bubble, the Sacramento Kings were considered one of the contenders for the play-in game. But after three straight losses to open play in the bubble, the Kings are teetering perilously close to the edge in regards to their playoff hopes.
A loss to New Orleans on Thursday would be the fatal push.
The Pelicans bounced back with a win over Memphis on Monday to ease some of the pressure on the team inside the bubble. But that victory means little if the team doesn’t follow it up with wins moving forward.
Thursday’s contest comes against a Sacramento side that the Pelicans knocked off in dramatic fashion. In that contest, a late Nemanja Bjelica three-pointer tied the game before JJ Redick won the game with a layup with 1.1 seconds left. That victory was the sixth in the eight games for the Pelicans at the time as they snapped out of their 13-game losing streak.
More memorably, though, was the Kings-Pelicans contest that was set to occur the night the season was canceled. The contest was set to take place despite the league’s decision to cancel the season. The Pelicans, though, refused to take the floor and the game was eventually called off, bringing a halt to the league for the next four months.
[lawrence-related id=25049,25025,25019]