The New Orleans Pelicans and the Utah Jazz will both be looking for their first win of the season Thursday night when they go head-to-head in Salt Lake City. The Pelicans lost their opening game on their home floor against the Indiana Pacers 123-120. Zion Williamson finished the game with 22 points, but he needed three more in the end after a missed three-point attempt in the final seconds to tie the game. The Jazz lost their first game on the road against the Memphis Grizzlies 123-103. Utah could not slow down Ty Jerome, allowing him to score 45 points on opening night.
This matchup will be between two of the top five tallest teams in the NBA. Utah is the second tallest team in the league with an average roster height of 6’ 7.7”. New Orleans comes in right behind them at 6’ 7”. Despite the Jazz’ size, they struggled to rebound the basketball against Memphis. They were outrebounded 55-38 and they allowed 15 offensive rebounds. I would expect a better performance from a starting lineup that contains Lauri Markkanen, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Jaxson Hayes, especially as they debut on their home court. Home court should also help the play of Markkanen and rookie Darryn Peterson. Both of these key players for Utah started their season slow, combining to shoot 7-20 from the floor and 1-8 from three. Peterson, the second overall pick in this year’s draft, was limited in his shot attempts, only scoring 9 points on 7 shots, despite playing 31 minutes. His first game in front of his new home crowd could be the jump start needed for this talented player. Despite all of the talent that the Pelicans hold, they have been an extremely slow-starting team in recent years. Through their first 20 games, the Pelicans started 3-17 in 2025 and 4-16 in 2024. Before I can back New Orleans, I need to see if they can win games early in the season. Utah’s lineup is filled with potential, and Thursday night could be when we see the talent being to flourish in a bounce-back opportunity.
Pelicans vs Jazz prediction: Jazz-4.5 (-110) available at time of publishing. Playable to -5 (-110).
