Larry Nance Jr. is betting on the Pelicans to upset the Thunder, but only figuratively: ‘No Jontay Porter’

Larry Nance Jr. has all the confidence in the world in the New Orleans Pelicans as they prepare to take on the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round of the postseason. In fact, the Pelicans forward was so sure of his team’s chances, he jokingly said he’s “betting” on his team to upset OKC, but wanted to make it clear that he’s not actually gambling.

“Respectfully, I’m betting on the Pels,” Nance said. “I’m not betting, no Jontay Porter. I’m not betting on anything, I don’t own a betting app, none of that.”

The video was pretty comical as you can see in real time that Nance realized what he said, and wanted to quickly clarify that he’s not gambling on the Pelicans or anyone else for that matter. Nance brought up Porter, who was recently given a lifetime ban from the NBA after an investigation discovered that he was “disclosing confidential information to sports bettors, limiting his own participation in one or more games for betting purposes, and betting on NBA games.”

While Nance made light of his comments, it’s also understandable why he has so much confidence in his team. The Pelicans are coming off an impressive win against the Sacramento Kings in the Play-In Tournament where they played without Zion Williamson, who sustained a hamstring injury in New Orleans’ first play-in game against the Lakers. 

Getting a win like that against Sacramento, especially when the final postseason spot was on the line and to do it without your franchise centerpiece has to instill a ton of confidence in a team. But New Orleans will likely face the Thunder without Williamson as well, who is expected to be re-evaluated in two weeks.

It’ll be a tall task for the Pelicans to knock off the Thunder who have looked like a dominant team for most of the season, but they sure aren’t lacking confidence if the rest of the locker room feels the same way Nance does. OKC and New Orleans will tip off their series on Sunday at 9:30 p.m. ET, so we’ll see if Nance’s confidence results to on-court success for the underdog Pelicans.