New Orleans Pelicans vs Phoenix Suns Predictions & Betting Odds

It’ll be a rematch of last season’s 1st Round of the Western Conference playoffs as the Phoenix Suns host the New Orleans Hornets. Catch the game live from 10 pm ET on ESPN.

The Pels are one of the more surprising teams through the first week of the season with a 3-1 record. Their only loss came at the hands of the Utah Jazz, which was a bit surprising, but most of their fans will be happy with the way their team has played so far. Their latest win came against the Dallas Mavericks 113-111 at home, in a game in which they were without three very important players Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram and Herbert Jones. Ingram is still in concussion protocol, while Zion, Jones are joined by C.J. McCollum as questionable for tonight’s game in Phoenix. If the Pelicans aren’t healthy they’ll have a hard time keeping their offensive rating at an NBA best 118.7 after 4 games played.

Phoenix also started the season 3-1, but unlike the Pelicans they don’t have that many serious injury issues. They are 2-0 at home following a dominant 134-105 win over the defending champions Warriors and are looking to assert themselves against a New Orleans side they beat 4-2 in the playoffs last season. Devin Booker has been absolutely on fire averaging 32.5 points per game on 53% shooting, while Chris Paul leads the NBA in assists per game for the 2nd year in a row averaging 10.2 a night. The play of Deandre Ayton is also worth mentioning, he is averaging a career high 18.3 points per game in just 30.8 minutes per game. The Suns head into tonight’s game as 6.5 point favorites, they are 6-1 SU in their last 7 played at home and have covered the spread 8 times in their last 12 played on a Friday at Footprint Center.

With so many injuries to their roster it’s really hard for me to consider backing the Pelicans here. Sure, it didn’t matter against the Mavericks the other night, but having 2 or 3 key players out and winning isn’t sustainable in this league. Go with the home team to cover the points.

I am looking specifically at Deandre Ayton to have a big game here. In the 6 game series against the Pelicans he averaged 20.5 points per game, he could be in line for another big night against Jonas Valanciunas. One other Achilles heel the Pelicans have is opponent three point percentage. Last season they allowed an average of 36.5% shots from deep, while this season they are at a slightly improved 34.3% in road games. This has particularly been visible in their games against Western Conference teams where 6 of the last 7 have gone over the total.

Head-to-head meetings with Suns have provided bettors with 4 overs in the last 5 games played and an average of 223.7 points per game. This will be a battle between the 2nd and 7th best offensive ratings in the NBA, so I think backing the over is the way to go here. Although I would recommend keeping an eye on the injury report before making any bets, if the Pels are without all their players who are listed as questionable then we should consider going under the total instead.

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