Pelicans vs Suns Picks and Predictions: Suns Return To Form

The Phoenix Suns will be hosting the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday, which means that Pelicans head coach Willie Green gets to face the team he was an assistant for last season. And while Green would surely love to have Zion Williamson in a game like this, it should be fun to see him and Suns coach Monty Williams scheming against one another. 

The betting odds for this game have Phoenix as a double-digit favorite, but the Suns have covered in just one of their five games this season. Will Phoenix find a way to blow out New Orleans? Keep reading our Pelicans vs. Suns picks and predictions. 

Pelicans vs Suns odds

Odds via the Covers Line, an average comprised of odds from multiple sportsbooks.

The Suns were 10.5-point favorites when this game became available across all sportsbooks, and they’re now laying either 11 or 11.5 points nearly everywhere. Meanwhile, the total opened at 216 in this game and has since moved to either 216.5 or 217.  Use the live odds widget above to track any future line movements right until tip-off and be sure to check out the full NBA odds before betting to ensure you get the best number.

Pelicans vs Suns predictions

• Prediction: Suns -11 (-110)
• Prediction: Over 216.5 (-110)
• Best bet: Over 216.5 (-110)

Predictions made on 11/02/2021 at 11:00 a.m. ET.
Click on each prediction to jump to the full analysis.

Pelicans vs Suns game info

• Location: Footprint Center, Phoenix, AZ
• Date: Tuesday, November 2, 2021
• Tip-off: 10:00 p.m. ET
• TV: TNT

Pelicans vs Suns betting preview

Injuries

Pelicans: Brandon Ingram F (Questionable), Devonte’ Graham G (Questionable), Garrett Temple G (Questionable), Zion Williamson F (Out).
Suns: Deandre Ayton C (Questionable), Cameron Payne G (Out), Dario Saric F (Out).
Find our latest NBA injury reports.

Betting trend to know

The Suns are 5-2 ATS in their last seven games against teams with losing road records. Find more NBA betting trends for Pelicans vs. Suns.

Pelicans vs Suns picks and predictions

Our predictions are compiled from the analysis of the spread and total and are indications of where we are leaning for this game.
Our best bet is the play that we like the most for this game, which we would actually put some of our bankroll behind.

Spread analysis

Last year, the Suns were in the Top 10 in both offensive and defensive rating. Now, Phoenix finds itself outside the Top 20 in both. Look for that to begin correcting itself at a rapid pace, as the Suns did nothing but improve their roster in the offseason. It’s a very small sample size that we’re looking at, and Phoenix is already coming off of an excellent defensive performance against the Cleveland Cavaliers last game. The Suns now need to figure it out on offense, but they shouldn’t have much of a problem doing so. 

The Pelicans offer the Suns a great opportunity to get back on track, as New Orleans is just 25th in the league in defensive rating. Opponents have shot 50 percent or better from the field in four of the seven games that New Orleans has played this season, and the Suns have the personnel to really punish this team on the defensive end of the floor. Herb Jones is a fantastic wing defender for a young player, but the Pelicans don’t have many rotation players that show the same energy on that end of the floor. That means Phoenix could get some good performances out of guys like Mikal Bridges, Jae Crowder and Cameron Johnson in this game. 

Chris Paul and Devin Booker also figure to be in positions to succeed here. The Pelicans have one of the worst defensive backcourts in the league, and that’ll only be exacerbated if Devonte’ Graham ends up playing here. Paul rarely gets to face a point guard that is similar in size to him, so he should be able to take advantage of that. Meanwhile, Booker is averaging 29 points per game over the last two contests and there’s not much preventing him from having another big night. 

This game should be rather lopsided no matter what happens, but it’s understandable if you want to wait to see what happens to the line if Brandon Ingram ends up playing. Still, Phoenix is the right side here. 

Prediction: Suns -11 (-110)

Over/Under analysis

The Suns are 10th in the NBA in pace of play and the Pelicans aren’t that far behind at 14th. Both of these teams prefer to get up and down the floor to try to see if it sparks any easy looks, and neither one of these teams has been good enough defensively to warrant a total this low. Sure, Phoenix should eventually get back to being a Top-12 defense or so this year, but that isn’t going to be easy with Deandre Ayton either banged up or not playing. 

Even with some real firepower likely to miss this game for the Pelicans, it’d be rather surprising if these teams don’t end up going Over the total. Last year, the Over hit in the final two meetings between these teams, and the average number of points scored in those contests was 235 points per game. 

Prediction: Over 216.5 (-110)

Best bet

Since Williams became the head coach of the Suns, the Over is 39-21 when Phoenix is coming off a game in which it gave up 105 points or less. The Over is also 12-3 when New Orleans has played against teams that average 108.0 or fewer points per game since the start of last season. 

This game has a lot of uncertainty in regard to injuries, but there will still be a lot of offensive talent on the floor in this game. Until the Suns legitimately get back to the brand of basketball they were playing last season, it’s hard to imagine them holding back-to-back opponents to less than 100 points. If Phoenix is going to cover in this game, that’s essentially what the team would have to do in order for this Under to hit.  

Pick: Over 216.5 (-110)

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