Phoenix Suns vs New Orleans Pelicans betting tips and predictions for Tuesday’s NBA Western Conference Playoff game on TNT. The best team during the regular season Phoenix had an easy task in Game 1 vs New Orleans, but now the two teams meet up once again in Game 2. Read on for all our free predictions and betting tips.
Phoenix Suns
Chris Paul turned back the clock over the weekend and showed us that he has a lot left in his tank, despite playing at the tender age of 36. He led his Suns in scoring with 30 points on 12-for-16 shooting from the field, while also dishing out 10 assists.
Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton also stepped up their game with 25 and 21 points. As a team, the Suns shot almost 54% from the field and made 10 of 28 three-point attempts. Game 1 was never in doubt, even if the Pelicans got really close towards the end of the 3rd quarter.
Stellar defence is what got Phoenix the win, they held the Pelicans to just 34 points over the first 2 quarters on Sunday. With 11 wins in 15 games vs Western Conference opponents and a 17-3 SU record in their last 20 vs Southwest Division teams, the Suns are in the driving seat for tonight’s game as well.
New Orleans Pelicans
New Orleans struggled heavily to open their postseason run. They got it going late, but they couldn’t do much against a much more experienced Suns team and Chris Paul in particular. The big 3 of Brandon Ingram, Jonas Valanciunas and CJ McCollum combined to shoot just 22-for-53 from the field, at this stage of the season that kind of effort simply won’t be enough. Free throw shooting was also a problem, they connected on just 18 of 26 attempts.
Head coach Willie Green is definitely going to make adjustments for Game 2, but against a team that’s won 30 more games than they did during the regular season, I just cannot see him being able to do much. The Pelicans are just out talented on almost every position here, they have a bright future and their best chance of getting a win in this series will be games 3 and 4 in front of their home fans.
The spread was 10.5 points in Game 1, the Suns just barely covered. Now it’s down to 9.5 and I think they’ll have a much easier job doing so after the feel out game is out of the way. The Pelicans simply aren’t a match for them, Phoenix has won 4 of the 5 meetings including the regular season. Take the home team to win by double-digits once more.
Phoenix Suns vs New Orleans Pelicans Predictions & Odds
After holding them to just 99 points in Game 1, the Suns now know they are able to shut down the Pelicans any time they want with minimal effort. I’m expecting the pace to pick up a little in Game 2, Phoenix has no need to go full effort on the defensive end and risk potential injuries as that has hurt them in the past. Instead I think they’ll play a free flowing game, just like they have in recent meetings against the Pelicans.
The last 9 of 13 meetings between these teams have all gone over the total and an average of 230.2 points per game were scored in the last 10 meetings. The 3 most recent games have averaged 224.6 points per game which would put us over tonight’s projected total. Speaking of the over, Phoenix has had that bet cash in 22 of 42 home games this season and against a Pelicans side that ranks only 20th in defensive efficiency, I think there’s a solid chance they score enough to push us over the total tonight. The Suns rank 9th in pace, expect them to light up the Pelicans for at least 120 tonight. Back to the points.
