Game Time: 8:30 PM ET, Friday, April 22nd, 2022 

Venue:    Smoothie King Center, New Orleans, Louisiana

Where to Watch: ESPN

DraftKings:  Spread: Suns -1.5; O/U 216.5

Fanduel:  Spread:  Suns -1.5; O/U 216

BetMGM:  Spread: Suns -1.5; O/U 216.5

Suns: 1-1, Western Conference Playoffs Round 1

Pelicans: 1-1 Western Conference Playoffs Round 1

Uh OH!  An NBA Western Conference Playoff series that was supposed to be decided by Game 2.  It wasn’t.  The Pelicans stole a game from the Suns.  The Pelicans also stole home court advantage from the Suns…. So What happened? Both teams are 1-1 and 1-1 ATS. When the #1 Seed plays the #8 Seed all we are supposed to worry about is what is the point spread? That didn’t happen in this series.  It turns out that if Brandon Ingram has a big game for the Pelicans at the same time that Devin Booker goes down with injury for the Suns… You get Chaos.  The Suns are better in every statistical category… scoring, defense, depth… bit the Pelicans have given themselves a puncher’s chance to win this series outright… which would destroy everything we have come to believe about the 2022 NBA Playoffs.

The Phoenix Suns won Game 1 of this first round playoff series in typical fashion.  They got 30 pts from PG Chris Paul, 25 points from SG Devin Booker, and 21 pts from C Deandre Ayton.  When that triumvirate puts up 76 points… all that is left for the other Suns is to chip in the occasional layup and free throw… play some solid defense… and wait for the final buzzer.  Game 2 however brought a mixed bag with 10 points from Deandre Ayton, 17 from Chris Paul and 31 from Devin Booker who got injured and had to leave the game.  The awkward execution of offense was only half of it… They also gave up 37 points to SF Brandon Ingram of the Pelicans. The defense sputtered a slow death as the Pelicans hit them from every direction.  SG Devin Booker will miss this coming games if not the next few… The Suns MUST come out swinging and get a game 3 win… otherwise a great season could end up falling into the dustpan of history.

The New Orleans Pelicans are 1-1 in the series and 1-1 ATS.  That is GREAT news for the Pelicans.  An 8th seed needs to get one of the first two games to even make a first round matchup a real series.  The Pelicans have done their job and now this is a real series.  SG CJ McCollum is absolutely the best, most consistent player on the Pelicans roster as he got 25 points in game 1 and 23 points in game 2… However, the canary in the coal mine is SF Brandon Ingram. Ingram got 18 points in the loss and 37 points in their win.  Ingram is a tall player with long arms that was taken #2 overall in the 2016 draft by the Los Angeles Lakers.  He was just a teenager back then… and he was jerked around by a franchise that was catering to Kobe in his final years and then catering to LeBron during his relocation to California.  Ingram didn’t get exactly the right conditions to blossom… but now with New Orleans picking up CJ MCCollum to take the pressure off… Ingram sometimes plays like a younger Kevin Durant.  In those games the Pelicans are unbeatable. 

Ben Burns is 8-3 the last 7 days in NBA action.  That is all Playoff basketball winning!  Team Del Genio is 6-1 in the last 7 days of NBA action.  That is also all Playoff basketball Winning!  You should be winning too! Get Ben Burns’ picks!  Get Team Del Genio’s picks!  Stay with us all throughout the NBA Playoffs and let’s grow that bankroll! You can discover the best  picks right now at the Shop Picks page, where you can find all of the Best Bets from our champion sports handicappers. NCAAF, NFL, MLB, college football… get positive value from all your bets! Expert picks!  Fun fact… winning a wager is much better than making a wager!

The Suns are 56-19 on the season, but 45-39 ATS.  They have logged 41 Overs, 42 Unders, and 1 Push.  They are 32-9 in road games,

The Pelicans are 39-47 on the season, but 42-41-1 ATS.  They have notched 33 Overs, 49 Unders, and 2 Push.  They are 20-22 in home games.

The Suns are 5th in scoring with 114.8 ppg, 10th in rebounds with 45.3 per game, and 3rd in AST/TO ratio with 2.1.  On defense they rank 9th while holding opponents to 107.3 ppg.

The Pelicans are 21st in scoring 109.3, 11th in rebounds with 45.2 per game, and 16th in AST/TO ratio with 1.8.  On defense they rank 13th while allowing 110.3 ppg from opponents.

Our prediction for Friday, April 22nd 1is….. Suns 123 - Pelicans 119

The Suns will right the ship.  Without Devin Booker for the whole game they will be able to easily transition to the next man up mentality.  The key to the game will be shutting down Ingram… Monty Williams already has a plan for that and has since the final buzzer of the last game.

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New Orleans is 45-33 ATS versus Phoenix since 1996.

Phoenix is 4-1 ATS versus New Orleans at New Orleans the last 3 seasons.

All 5 of these games in New Orleans have gone OVER.

Suns: SG Devin Booker (hamstring) Out ** SF Dario Saric (knee) Out

Pelicans: PF Zion Williamson (knee) Out ** PG Kira Lewis JR (knee) Out

Suns: SF Mikal Bridges, PF Jae Crowder, C Deandre Ayton, SG Landry Shamet, PG Chris Paul

Pelicans: PF Jaxson Hayes, SF Brandon Ingram, C Jonas Valanciunas, SG CJ McCollum, PG Herbert Jones

Suns: Monty “Mr Class” Williams

Pelicans: Wille “I’m at it full time!” Green