Game: Phoenix Suns @ New Orleans Pelicans
Time: 8:00 p.m. ET
Odds: Suns -6, Pelicans +6
Total: 225.5
The best team in the NBA looks to close out the season series with New Orleans with a win. Phoenix leads this series 2-1 and has won three of its last four games overall heading into tonight. The Suns have won five of the last seven games against the Pelicans who will be without Brandon Ingram. C.J. McCollum, who helped New Orleans in its recent string of victories, is still questionable with quarantine issues.
New Orleans had won four straight but ran into some health and injury issues. They then lost four straight and then were able to end that losing streak with a 130-105 win over Houston on Sunday. Jonas Valanciunas scored 32 points and had 10 rebounds in the win over the Rockets. Five other Pelicans scored in double figures, but McCollum and Ingram were both out. New Orleans needs to get back to full strength as soon as possible. They are still 10th in the Western Conference, but don’t want to risk it with Portland just a game and a half behind.
Phoenix has been without Chris Paul since the All-Star break and has done okay without him. In their win over the Lakers on Sunday, Devin Booker scored 30 points and had 10 assists in a 140-111 blowout win. Deandre Ayton added 23 points and 16 rebounds. The Suns will need Paul back for the run to the NBA title. For now, though, they have four very winnable games over the next week or so, beginning with tonight and the Pelicans.
The Suns are 13-4 SU in their last 17 games but only 4-8 ATS in their last 12. They have had success against New Orleans. In addition to winning five of the last seven games in the series, the Suns are also 5-2 ATS in those seven games. Phoenix has also won 14 of its last 16 games on the road.
With the win over Houston on Sunday, New Orleans is now 1-4 SU in its last five. The Pelicans are also 1-4 ATS in those five games. New Orleans has won just three of the last ten games in this series and they have covered the spread just three times. In the three games this season, Phoenix is 2-1 SU and ATS.
Phoenix is fifth in the NBA in scoring averaging over 114 points per game. The Suns have been trending Over for the last month or so. Eleven of the Suns’ last 16 games have gone Over the posted total. New Orleans is also trending that way with four of the last five totals going Over the number.
In the head-to-head series, the Over has cashed in eight of the last 11 Suns-Pelicans games. The Over is a perfect 5-for-5 in the last five games in the series played in New Orleans. The last ten games in the series have averaged a combined 237 points.