The New Orleans Pelicans will travel to the Footprint Center to take on the Phoenix Suns in the second game of the first round of the Western Conference playoffs. The Pelicans finished the regular season as the eighth seed as they defeated both the San Antonio Spurs and the Los Angeles Clippers in the play-in tournament to advance to this point.
Last Games Records
These teams played four times during the regular season, and the Suns were able to win three of those games. During Game 1 of the series, the Phoenix Suns picked up a 110-99 home win behind point guard Chris Paul’s 30 points, seven rebounds, 10 assists, three steals, and a block. However, he completely took over the fourth quarter as he finished with 19 points, two assists, and a steal in the fourth quarter alone to solidify the victory.
Matchup Information
Pelicans at Suns Betting Analysis
New Orleans Pelicans Betting Analysis
Center Jonas Valanciunas had a dominant Game 1 as he finished with 18 points and 25 rebounds (13 offensive rebounds) in just 31 minutes. They have a great size advantage with their two-center lineup with him and Jaxson Hayes as they had a 20 rebound advantage throughout the game, including a 25-5 offensive rebounds advantage.
If the Pelicans can use their size advantage to their dominance, it will be a great sign, and hopefully, they can get the lead at any point in this game and split the first two games.
Phoenix Suns Betting Analysis
The Phoenix Suns have been doing very well offensively as they were able to shoot 53.8 percent from the floor during Game 1 as they were able to score 50 points in the paint and 15 fast break points throughout the game.
They need small forward Brandon Ingram to step up as he scored 18 points on 17 shot attempts and turned the ball over five times throughout the game. He had a struggle throughout the first game of the series, and needed him to step up as a few possessions were the difference between taking Game 1 and being down heading to New Orleans.
Updates
The biggest thing to keep an eye out for is the injury of power forward Zion Williamson. He has not played throughout the regular season and has a possibility of returning during the series. He has been active during warm-ups, and having him as a potential “break glass in emergency” could be a huge factor if he is able to play later in this series.
Pelicans at Suns Betting Preview
Looking at the main sportsbooks for this game, there is a decent spread as the Phoenix Suns are favored by 9.5 points. The Pelicans are listed at +380 on the moneyline, while the Suns are a massive -490 favorite. The total is currently listed at 221.5 points in this game, with both sides being -110 in this game. NBA betting odds in the postseason are rarely this high, so this should be an interesting matchup.
Pelicans at Suns Betting Prediction
The New Orleans Pelicans were able to use their size to their advantage and grab a huge amount of offensive rebounds. They are going to need Brandon Ingram to dominate, especially after a poor performance in Game 1, where he was just 6-of-17 with five turnovers. Phoenix also needed point guard Chris Paul to have a monster fourth quarter in order to cover the spread as the game was decided by 11 points.
It is hard to imagine that Ingram has another poor performance and that Chris Paul will have a late resurgence in this game. However, this spread is 9.5 points, and with the struggles to shoot for New Orleans as they were just shooting 37.9 percent from the field, so they need to step up and should be able to cover the spread on the road.
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