Pelicans Escape Preseason Scare as Under Cashes Comfortably

The Pelicans squeaked past Washington 107-106 in a preseason thriller that had all the offensive firepower of a mid-January Tuesday night in February. New Orleans survived a late Wizards push to preserve the one-point margin, but the real winner here was anyone who tailed DarkHorse's under 230.5—which cashed with 18.5 points to spare.

This game played out exactly as advertised in the original reasoning. Exhibition basketball delivered exhibition results: deep rotations, camp bodies getting extended run, and offensive sets that looked like they were drawn up in crayon during timeouts. The 213-point total screamed preseason limitations, where evaluation minutes trump any semblance of offensive rhythm or efficiency.

Both squads trudged through possessions with the urgency of guys protecting guaranteed contracts, which most of them are. The Pelicans' 112.1 offensive efficiency from last season? Irrelevant when your third-string wing is bricking open threes. Washington's 108.7 mark? Equally meaningless when rotation experimentation takes priority over, you know, actually running an offense.

The one-point margin adds drama to the box score, but make no mistake—this was a grind-it-out slog that never threatened the total. Preseason context dominated, just as projected. Sometimes the sharp read is recognizing when the game itself doesn't matter, and betting accordingly. Under bettors collected easily while the Pelicans collected a meaningless W.