Suns @ Pelicans tips and picks: New Orleans to halt Phoenix’s momentum in Big Easy
- George Dempsey
- 19 January 2024
The New Orleans Pelicans (25-17) will fancy their chances of ending the Phoenix Suns’ (22-18) three-game win streak on Friday night (0100 GMT Sat).
We backed the New Orleans Pelicans to make light work of their -12 tag against the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday and they did just that.
Brandon Ingram led the way with 28 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists while CJ McCollum dropped in 22 and Jordan Hawkins added 21 from the bench.
The Pelicans shot 53% from three-point range and made good on 49.4% of their field goal attempts in the dominant win.
Some of those numbers put them in letdown territory as they prepare to face a Phoenix Suns team putting together a winning run.
There are some damning ATS stats about teams who shot 50%+ from 3pt range or make 20+ 3pt field goals in their previous games, but there are more important factors.
The core factor of a lot of trends about dominant victories relates to how motivated a team were or how tough they played to win by a big margin.
The Pelicans weren’t hassled by the Hornets who tend to lose by big margins night in, and night out.
There are indeed signs that the Suns are becoming a team to be wary of, but they’re still not covering the spread. They’re 14-25ATS this season and on a 5-18ATS run.
On the other hand, the Pelicans still have comfortably the best net rating across their last 11 games and continue to play well on defence.
The Pelicans are 7-3ATS in their last 10 games, a run which involves outright wins over the Lakers, Kings, Warriors and Mavericks.
The collective of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal is capable of blowing any team away and their net rating when on the floor together is good.
But injuries have limited their time together and there are still some kinks to work out before bettors are comfortable backing them.
