Pelicans vs Suns Pick and Predictions 04/24/22

After Devin Bookers suffered an injury in Game 2, the Pelicans beat the Suns 125-114. In the fourth quarter, the Suns took the lead, but the Pelicans battled back with the score slowly rising. Although Booker's injury had a role in the loss, the team's terrible transitioning defense throughout the game was a bigger influence on the Suns' defeat.

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Why bet on New Orleans Pelicans?

✅ The Pelican has a record of 36-46, 9th in NBA Western Conference
✅ Brandon Ingram has a record 22.7 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 5.6 assists, with 18.78 player efficiency.
✅ The Suns have an ATS record of 44-41-1 in 2021-2022 games

Why bet on Phoenix Suns

✅ In its last seven games versus the Pelican, the Suns are 5-2 straight up
✅ In addition to Booker, the Suns have Chris Paul, who has a player efficiency rating of 20.86 and has a record of 14.7 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 10.8 assists
✅ The Suns have an ATS record of 45-39-0 in 2021-2022 games

Bet on the Pelicans with FanDuel $1,000 Risk-Free Bet.

The Pelicans are in their 20th NBA season this year. For this season, the Pelicans have CJ McCollum, Brandon Ingram, Herb Jones, Jaxson Hayes, and Jonas Valanciunas as their starting lineup.

The Pelicans lost to the Suns in game 1 with 110-99. The team was having a rough start until the third quarter and eventually, McCollum led the team with 25 points. Moreover, Valanciunas made 18 points and 25 rebounds, and Ingram made 18 points.

However, the Pelicans managed to flip the table around in Game 2. Ingram led the Pelicans to a 125-114 victory by scoring 37 points, 11 rebounds, and 9 assists. McCollum also scored 23 points and Ingram gave another contribution by adding a last-second back-to-back jumper to stop the Suns. The team managed to finish the game with 17 three-pointers out of 30 shots.

The Suns have always appeared enthused and never given up during their past two years of NBA competition, which includes the 2021 playoffs. Phoenix was able to win more games with a significant score differential. The team's determination to overcome its opponents in every encounter did not go unnoticed.

When the 2022 playoffs began, the Suns began to play with less intensity and focus, which was a first. This was evident in the first half of the 8th seed's game against the Pelicans when the Suns began to fall behind. Monty Willams and his men have by far the greatest net rankings in the league and have established a league record for most wins without losing after three quarters. Unfortunately, Booker had previously missed many games due to a hamstring injury sustained in the prior game.

During their Game 1 against the Pelicans, the Suns won the match with Chris Paul scoring 19 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter. Paul even stopped the Pelicans to take over the game and managed to shoot three 3-pointers. Devin Booker led the Suns with 25 points and a strong defensive effort to help them seize control of the game. Deandre Ayton had 21 points and 9 rebounds on defense.

Game 2 gave the opposite result where the Suns were defeated by the Pelicans. The team didn’t really show a satisfying defense that might have caused the defeat of the match. Moreover,  Landry Shamet and Devin Brooker will likely miss the upcoming game due to their injuries.

The Suns' defeat was not mostly due to Booker's injury. A key reason was the team's poor transitional defense from the start of the game.