9:45 pm
April 24

Suns @ Pelicans

Who will WIN this matchup?

Phoenix Suns (64-18)

@ New Orleans Pelicans (36-46)

 

Current odds:

Phoenix Suns: (-133)

New Orleans Pelicans: (+111)

 

• The line for this game is Suns by 2 points.

• The Phoenix Suns have regained homecourt advantage in their series against the New Orleans Pelicans. They can take a commanding lead in the series if they can win again Sunday night in New Orleans. The top-seeded Suns bounced back from a series-tying loss at home in Game 2 to beat the host Pelicans 114-111 and take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series Friday night.

• They overcame the absence of leading scorer Devin Booker, who is expected to miss at least Sunday’s game because of a hamstring injury. Deandre Ayton dominated the first half and Chris Paul dominated the fourth quarter in Game 3. Ayton had 21 of his 28 points and seven of his 17 rebounds to help Phoenix grab a 59-48 halftime lead.

• New Orleans got within two points at the end of the third quarter but couldn’t keep up with Paul in the fourth quarter. Paul, who scored 19 points in the fourth quarter to spur the Suns’ win in Game 1, had 19 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter of Game 3. He finished with 14 assists and didn’t commit a turnover.

• Phoenix had a 64-40 advantage in points in the paint and the Pelicans’ inside game suffered a blow when starting forward Jaxson Hayes was ejected with 5:13 left in second quarter for committing a flagrant 2 foul against Jae Crowder.

• Brandon Ingram scored 34 points and CJ McCollum added 30 to lead New Orleans. However, starting center Jonas Valanciunas made just 1 of 5 shots and had 11 rebounds while backup Larry Nance Jr. made 1 of 8 shots and had four rebounds. In the first two games, Valanciunas averaged 14 points (on 11-of-30 shooting) and 19.0 rebounds, and Nance averaged 13.5 points (on 11-of-17 shooting).

5/10
Confidence
StreakSmarter Pick
Phoenix Suns
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