Updated Oct 29, 2026: Nikola Jokic recorded the 200th regular-season triple-double of his career on Wednesday night, Oct 28, as the Denver Nuggets beat the New Orleans Pelicans.
Nikola Jokic finished with a triple-double and the Denver Nuggets never trailed in a win over the winless New Orleans Pelicans. The recap, filed Oct 28, calls it his 200th career triple-double in the regular season. A second wire item the same night adds the chase: Jokic needs ten more to pass the retired Russell Westbrook as the NBA leader. Those are the facts. Everything below is about what the market did around the Pelicans and what the result does and does not tell a bettor.
The game and the milestone
The Oct 28 recap describes a Denver lead that never changed hands. The Nuggets did not trail at any point against a New Orleans team still looking for its first win. A separate Oct 28 headline item carried the same story: Jokic with his triple-double and the Nuggets over the Pelicans. A third Oct 28 item is a highlights package for the same game, which confirms the matchup and nothing more about pace or shot quality.
The scoring was modest. Denver held New Orleans to the low nineties and finished just past one hundred itself. For a bettor, that is the part worth keeping: a star who produced a triple-double without a heavy scoring night, in a game that did not need him to push the total anywhere. The recap reports no margin-of-victory storyline beyond the final score, and this desk will not invent one.
What the market posted on the Pelicans
New Orleans plays again right away. The board for the Pelicans' next game, against the Sacramento Kings on Oct 29, was captured Oct 28 and carries nine books. The Pelicans are the home favorite at every one of them.
The spread splits into two camps. BetMGM posted the Pelicans at -5.5 with a price of -115. BetRivers also sat at -5.5 but charged -117 on New Orleans. DraftKings, Fanatics and FanDuel all held -5.5. BetOnline, LowVig, Pinnacle and Bovada went to -6.
That half-point gap is small, but it is the only real disagreement on the spread. Pinnacle's New Orleans price at -6 was -103, and its Sacramento side at 6 was -109. Both were last seen Oct 28 and neither changed from the last alerted value.
What the Number Says
Start with the moneyline, because that is where the books spread out the most. The Pelicans' price ranges from -205 at Fanatics to -230 at Bovada. BetOnline sat at -228 and LowVig at -226. Pinnacle sat at -224, a hair different from its last alerted value of -225.
The Kings' side mirrors it. Fanatics paid 170, Bovada 190, BetOnline 191, and both Pinnacle and LowVig 193. The shape is consistent: the sharper-leaning shops lay more on New Orleans and pay more on Sacramento, while Fanatics, DraftKings and FanDuel sit tighter. A bettor shopping the Kings would see the widest payout at the books that also demand the biggest price on the Pelicans.
The total is the cleaner story. Pinnacle and Bovada hang 237. BetMGM, BetOnline, FanDuel and LowVig sit at 237.5. Fanatics prints 238, while BetRivers and DraftKings go to 238.5. That is a spread of one and a half points across the board on a single total. Pinnacle's over at 237 is priced -106, down from a last alerted -109. Its under at 237 sits at -110, against a last alerted -107. Those small price drifts are the only movement the line tracker flagged on the total.
A table of the posted spread
| Book | Pelicans spread | Pelicans price |
|---|---|---|
| BetMGM | -5.5 | -115 |
| BetOnline | -6 | -110 |
| BetRivers | -5.5 | -117 |
| DraftKings | -5.5 | -112 |
| Fanatics | -5.5 | -110 |
| LowVig | -6 | -106 |
| Pinnacle | -6 | -103 |
| Bovada | -6 | -105 |
Observed Oct 28 across the board. Bovada's Kings side is at 6 for -115, the juiciest Kings price on the sheet. The pattern: the -6 books charge less vig on the favorite, while the -5.5 books charge more. A bettor buying the extra half point pays for it in juice.
Why the Jokic result matters for this market
It matters less than the headline suggests. The Jokic triple-double was a Denver story, and the Pelicans' next opponent is Sacramento. The recap says the Pelicans are winless. The market on the Kings game still lays the points with New Orleans at home, which tells you the books price the Pelicans off the matchup, the venue and the opponent, not off a single loss to a Jokic night.
That is a useful read on how oddsmakers separate a star's milestone from a team's next price. A loss to a contender with the league's best-known triple-double threat did not push New Orleans into underdog territory against Sacramento. Winless teams still carry home-court weight, and the board shows it.
The Westbrook chase is a different kind of number. Jokic needs ten more triple-doubles to pass the retired Westbrook as the league leader, per the Oct 28 wire item. That is a season-long prop storyline, not a game-by-game edge. This desk has no recorded price on a triple-double market, so there is nothing to compare, and nothing here should be read as a lean on one.
Limits and what to watch next
The evidence is thin by design. The recap and the headline item give the box line and the milestone. They do not give pace, minutes, shot locations, or who defended Jokic. The odds rows are a single Oct 28 capture of the Pelicans-Kings board, not a time series. The line tracker shows several prices at or near their last alerted values, so there is no meaningful steam to report, only a stable half-point split between -5.5 and -6 on the spread and a one-and-a-half-point spread on the total.
Watch three things before the Pelicans-Kings tip. First, whether the -5.5 books move to -6 or the reverse, since the camps are one tick apart. Second, whether the total consolidates from its low of 237 to its high of 238.5. Third, whether the Pelicans' moneyline range, -205 to -230, tightens. None of this predicts a result. It tells you where the books disagree, and that is where a shopper finds the better number.
FAQ
What did Nikola Jokic do on Oct 28?
The Oct 28 recap reports his 200th regular-season triple-double as Denver beat the winless New Orleans Pelicans.
How many more triple-doubles does Jokic need to lead the NBA?
An Oct 28 wire item says he needs ten more to pass the retired Russell Westbrook as the league's career leader.
Who is favored in the Pelicans-Kings game?
New Orleans is the home favorite at every book on the Oct 28 board. The spread sits at -5.5 at some books and -6 at others.
Where is the best number on the Kings?
The widest posted moneyline on Sacramento is 193 at Pinnacle and LowVig. Fanatics offers the shortest at 170.
