The Portland Trail Blazers are jockeying for home court in the upcoming play-in tournament, and they battle a New Orleans Pelicans squad destined for the lottery on Thursday night.
Portland has taken five of the last six in this head-to-head matchup, and my Pelicans vs. Trail Blazers predictions see more of the same unfolding tonight.
Read on for my free NBA picks for April 2.
Pelicans vs Trail Blazers prediction
Pelicans vs Trail Blazers best bet: Trail Blazers -6.5 (-110)
The Portland Trail Blazers have it going right now. They went into L.A. on Tuesday and dumped the Clippers, 114-104, making it seven wins in their last nine outings. They're now just a half-game back of the No. 8 seed.
The Blazers are doing it with defense. Over this stretch, they own the NBA’s best scoring defense at 104 points per game, allowing teams to shoot just 44% from the field and 32.3% from 3-point range.
The New Orleans Pelicans fit into what Portland is doing, as they have dropped five straight and are scoring just 107.6 points per game during this slide.
Defensively, the Pelicans are leaking, allowing 122.8 points. They have lost by double-digits in each of their last three, including a 20+ and 30+ point blowout.
They also might be down leading scorer and assist man Trey Murphy Jr, who is dealing with an ankle injury. Bryce McGowens (toe) is also out, while Karlo Matkovic (back) is questionable.
Portland has been a good bet in this head-to-head. Four of their last five wins over the Pels have been by at least 13 points, and they are 6-2 against the spread in the last eight.
The beat should go on this Thursday night.
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Pelicans vs Trail Blazers same-game parlay
Scoot Henderson has been good from distance of late, nailing at least three triples in three of his last five games.
I like him to stay hot against NOLA, which sees the fourth-most made opponent threes per game.
While I don't care for the Pelicans' win chances, promising rookie Derik Queen deserves more respect than he's getting from the books, who set a very modest scoring line for him here.
Queen has hit double digits in three straight games. He also dropped 17 and 26 points, respectively, in his first two meetings with Portland.
Pelicans vs Trail Blazers SGP
- Trail Blazers -6.5
- Scoot Henderson Over 1.5 3-pointers
- Derik Queen Over 8.5 points
Our "from downtown" SGP: Underwhelming efforts
There are a bunch of Unders that look good to me tonight, so I'm combining them in a long shot SGP.
Jrue Holiday led the Blazers in scoring last time out with 30 points, but he’s struggled putting up numbers against New Orleans. He’s gone Under this line in three straight head-to-heads.
Deni Avdija is having a great year, but he’s not grooving right now. While he did pot 28 last time, he went Under this line six straight times before that.
After 12 straight games with double-digit rebounds, Donovan Clingan has now gone way Under the total twice in a row. He’s only grabbed 13 or more rebounds once against the Pelicans in five career games.
Finally, Saddiq Bey has pulled down fewer than five boards in three of his last four games.
Pelicans vs Trail Blazers SGP
- Jrue Holiday Under 17.5 points
- Donovan Clingan Under 12.5 rebounds
- Deni Avdija Under 26.5 points
- Saddiq Bey Under 4.5 rebounds
Pelicans vs Trail Blazers odds
- Spread: Pelicans +6.5 | Trail Blazers -6.5
- Moneyline: Pelicans +205 | Trail Blazers -250
- Over/Under: Over 232.5 | Under 232.5
Pelicans vs Trail Blazers betting trend to know
The Trail Blazers have hit the 1Q Over in 29 of their last 45 games (+10.45 Units / 20% ROI). Find more NBA betting trends for Pelicans vs. Trail Blazers.
How to watch Pelicans vs Trail Blazers
| Location | Moda Center, Portland, OR |
| Date | Thursday, April 2, 2026 |
| Tip-off | 10:00 p.m. ET |
| TV | Pelicans+, BlazerVision |
Pelicans vs Trail Blazers latest injuries
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