Game Time: 3:30 PM ET, Saturday, April 24th, 2022 

Venue:   Smoothie King Arena, New Orleans, Louisiana

Where to Watch: TNT

DraftKings:  Spread: Suns -3; O/U 215.5

Fanduel:  Spread: Suns -2.5; O/U 215

BetMGM:  Spread: Suns -2.5; O/U 215.5

Suns: 64-18, 1st place Western Conference

Pelicans: 36-46, 8th place Western Conference

This Western Conference first round NBA Playoff matchup between the #1 Seed and the #8 Seed has gone off the rails… sure just by 1 game… but that is big when considering the teams and the injury to SG Devin Booker.   The Phoenix Suns are 2-1 in the series, And 2-1 ATS.  The New Orleans Pelicans are 1-2 in the series and 1-2 ATS.  In the last game the Suns won 114-111 and covered a small 2.5 points spread… The spread was smaller because the Pelicans were at home.  Winning for the Suns is great, but missing SG Devin Booker was not supposed to be part of the equation.  This coming game is not an elimination game… but it is the most important Pelicans game of the entire season… losing this would practically shut the door on any life the Pelicans have a chance at… It would also signal to the Suns to simply rest Booker until the next series. 

The Phoenix Suns are 2-1 in the series and missing their best player in SG Devin Booker.  When the #1 team in the Western Conference is missing their best p[layer,.. All they have to do is turn to the several other great players they have to carry the day.  That is exactly what happened. PG Chris Paul and C DeAndre Ayton each had 28 points to carry the day for a slim 114-111 win. It also didn’t hurt that Ayton had 17 rebounds and CP3 had 14 assists… but that is what big players do in big games.  Toss in good games from SF Mikal Bridges and backup Center JaVale McGee and the Suns got the win.  Shooting guards Cameron Johnson and Landry Shamet will need to take long looks in the mirror… without Booker in the lineup one of these guys will have to step up… They both got big long looks… they both had bad games.  The Suns should not struggle against the Pelicans… It will take Johnson or Shamet to have a good game to keep that from happening again.

The New Orleans Pelicans are 1-2 in the series and 1-2 ATS.  They lost the last game which was officially their best chance at a win… which would have given them control of the entire series and propelled them to great odds at advancing in the Playoff for the first time in years upon years.  SF Brandon Ingram had 34 points, SG CJ McCollum had 30 points…. All was looking great… excerpt for the rest of the team. C Jonas Valanciuanas and backup PG Jose Alvarado were mostly invisible after having good games in the first two.  A big problem for the Pelicans was that PF Jaxson Hayes was ejected from the game for a flagrant 2 while shoving Suns PF Jae Crowder to the floor after Landry Shamet dunked on him.  This reaction is exactly why the Pelicans did not want to put too much responsibility in Hayes’s hands… It is also why they worked the phones hard at the trade deadline to unload him.  Hayes is thick-headed and slow-learning. If only the Pelicans had a power forward… ya know… like a possible all-star # pick type of guy who could come save the day?  If only somewhere on the Pelicans roster there was a world class power forward who could outplay Jaxson Hayes?  But where would they find a guy like that?

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The Suns are 66-19 on the season, but 46-39 ATS.  They have logged 42-42-1 O/U.  They are 33-9 in road games.

The Pelicans are 39-48 on the season, but 42-42-1 ATS.  They have notched 34-49-2 O/U.  They are 20-23 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 with 109.3 ppg, 11th in rebounds with 45.2 per game, and 16th in AST/TO ratio with 1.8. On defense they rank 13th while giving up 110.3 ppg from opponents.

 

Our prediction for Sunday, April 24th is….. Suns 116 - Pelicans 107

The Suns will pull away and the Pelicans will struggle to force action at the game’s end.  Yes, the Pelicans will get PF Jaxson Hayes back while the Suns will still be without SG Devin Booker… but they wasted their shot already… with 64 points from Ingram and McCollum they still lost the game… They will not get that again.  The Winners have already held off the most significant challenge.

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New Orleans is 45-34 ATS versus Phoenix since 1996.

Phoenix is 8-4 ATS versus New Orleans the last 3 seasons.

6 of 6 games… Yes, all 6 games.. This series have gone OVER the last 3 seasons.

Suns: SG Devin Booker (hammy) Out

Pelicans:  PF Zion Williamson (he is fine) Out ** PG Kira Lewis Jr (knee) Out

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

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

Suns: Monty Williams

Pelicans: Willie Green