The Phoenix Suns (16-9) kick off a 4-game road trip Friday night with the first of 2 games against the New Orleans Pelicans (16-8). Tip-off is at 8:30 p.m. ET at Smoothie King Center. The Suns have dropped 2 consecutive games and 3 of their last 4. In their last 2 games, they lost by 27 points at home to the Boston Celtics as 2-point favorites and by 19 points on the road to the Dallas Mavericks as 3.5-point underdogs.
The Pelicans have won 5 straight games and 8 of their last 10. Their last game was a 104-98 win at home over the Detroit Pistons as 11-point favorites.
Suns at Pelicans odds
- Moneyline (ML): Suns -120 (bet $120 to win $100) | Pelicans +100 (bet $100 to win $100)
- Against the spread (ATS): Suns -1.5 (-110) | Pelicans +1.5 (-110)
- Over/Under (O/U): 227.5 (O: -110 | U: -110)
Suns at Pelicans key injuries
Suns
- F Jae Crowder (not with team) out
- F Cam Johnson (knee) out
- G Duane Washington Jr. (hip) out
Pelicans
- G Jose Alvarado (rib) questionable
- F Brandon Ingram (toe) out
- F Herbert Jones (ankle) out
- F E.J. Liddell (knee) out
For most recent updates: Official NBA injury report.
Suns at Pelicans picks and predictions
Prediction
Suns 117, Pelicans 114
Moneyline
The return of G Chris Paul did not go well for the Suns against the Celtics but should improve. They are only 4-6 on the road this season after being the league’s best road team a season ago.
The Suns have not lost 3 consecutive games all season.
The Pelicans are 9-3 at home and have won 5 games in a row overall.
The Suns, though, have beaten the Pelicans 3 straight times and in 4 of the last 5 meetings.
I’m looking for a Suns team to bounce back to start the road trip. The moneyline isn’t a bad bet at all at -120, but with only a 1.5-point spread, you get slightly better value going with an ATS bet.
PASS.
Against the spread
The Pelicans are 6-4 ATS in their last 10 games. The Suns are 5-5 ATS over their last 10.
New Orleans is 7-6 ATS at home while Phoenix is 5-5 ATS on the road.
I’m looking at the trend with the Suns where they are 7-1 ATS in game following a straight-up loss.
They are too talented to keep on this skid and the Pelicans are due for a hiccup.
BET SUNS -1.5 (-110).
Over/Under
The Over has hit in the Suns’ last 4 road games against teams with a winning home record. Five of their last 6 games have had at least 228 points.
Both teams have a top-10 offense and a top-10 defense. Which will prevail?
I expect a high-scoring, close game.
BET OVER 227.5 (-110).