8:05 pm
February 19

Suns @ Pelicans

Who will WIN this matchup?

Phoenix Suns (17-10)

@ New Orleans Pelicans (12-16)

 

Current odds:

Phoenix Suns: (-165)

New Orleans Pelicans: (+145)

 

• The line for this game is Suns by 3.5 points.

• The Phoenix Suns and the New Orleans Pelicans both had poor defensive performances while losing their last game. For the Suns it was an aberration. For the Pelicans it was all too familiar. Both teams will try to bounce back when they meet Friday in New Orleans.

• Phoenix saw its six-game winning streak end in a 128-124 home loss against Brooklyn on Tuesday. The Suns led 116-108 with less than five minutes remaining, but the Nets finished with a 20-8 run as Phoenix went scoreless for the final 2:48. “We couldn’t get a stop the whole second half,” Phoenix coach Monty Williams said after his team allowed 74 second-half points. “It wasn’t (just) the last four minutes.” The Suns, who are fourth the NBA in scoring defense (108.0), led by as many as 24 points in the first half, but James Harden (38 points, 11 assists) led Brooklyn back even with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving sidelined. The loss was Phoenix’s only one during a seven-game homestand that featured victories against three of the top five teams in the Eastern Conference — Philadelphia, Milwaukee and Boston.

• Just as the Suns couldn’t stop Harden with the game on the line, the Pelicans couldn’t stop another elite scorer — Portland’s Damian Lillard — when their last game was on the line. Lillard drove to the basket for a go-ahead three-point play that provided the game’s final points with 16.5 seconds remaining in the visiting Blazers’ 126-124 victory Wednesday night. Lillard had 43 points and tied a career-high with 16 assists.

• The Pelicans were playing 24 hours after registering a season-high point total in a 144-113 victory at Memphis. They still had a chance after Lillard’s score, but Zion Williamson, who tied his career-high with 36 points, didn’t touch the ball on the final possession. Instead, Lonzo Ball missed a 3-pointer and Brandon Ingram missed a jumper.

• These teams have split their first two meetings. The Suns won 111-86 on Dec. 29 in Phoenix, and the Pelicans won 123-101 on Feb. 3 in New Orleans in the last game the Suns played on the road.

5/10
Confidence
StreakSmarter Pick
Phoenix Suns
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