Suns vs Pelicans Odds, Picks, and Predictions Tonight: Pels Prove Too Much for Suns in New Orleans

The Phoenix Suns have a spark of life at last. Like the mythical bird of their namesake, Phoenix seemed to die and be reborn in their record-setting fourth-quarter comeback against the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday.

But can one spirited comeback win truly mark the turnaround that Phoenix desperately needs? Or will they succumb once more in their matchup against the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday, January 19? 

New Orleans has been playing good-to-great basketball for weeks under the shroud of relative anonymity, and a signature win is sure to elevate them in the national conversation.

My NBA picks and predictions for Suns vs. Pelicans believe that New Orleans is being seriously undervalued in the NBA odds on Friday.

Suns vs Pelicans odds

Suns vs Pelicans predictions

The New Orleans Pelicans are an NBA afterthought. And for now, that’s probably how they like it. This is a team that hasn’t done well with greater scrutiny and was reeling after their embarrassing loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in the In-Season Tournament. 

But since that loss, the team has quietly and steadily improved. They’re 13-6 since the IST and finding a better balance between their twin north stars in Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson, and getting outstanding contributions from CJ McCollum as well. They’re deep on shooting and size, arguably the two most in-demand traits for modern NBA basketball. 

Everyone is doing less, the rotation has deepened, and the two-way productivity has taken a real jump. They’re eighth in the NBA in point differential and are just a hair outside of being ranked Top-10 in efficiency on both sides of the ball.

The Phoenix Suns are coming off arguably the best win of their season. They rallied from a late fourth quarter 22-point deficit to pull out a two-point victory over the Sacramento Kings. It was a commendable effort, and the Suns overcame their own record of disastrous fourth quarters to steal a feel-good win.

Some might view this as a turning point for the Suns, but I’m equally worried about a Phoenix team that can be so lifeless and so dependent on the hot shooting of Grayson Allen to stay competitive at home against the Kings. While Sacramento is 23-17, they have negative point differential on the season.

The Suns' recent play outside of that has mostly been uninspiring, marked by two bad losses to the Los Angeles Clippers as well as a disaster against the Memphis Grizzlies. While they ultimately beat the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday, they squeaked it out in the fourth quarter against a team that has a negative net rating in the double digits.

The Pelicans are also one of the few other teams in the West that have good defensive options for all the Suns' stars in Herb Jones, Trey Murphy III, and Jose Alvarado. The Suns don’t have a realistic path to victory unless two of their three top players are both hyper-efficient and productive.

The Pels have a lot of ways they can win this game, they’re at home, and they have a much stronger recent track record. I like them at -2.

My best bet: Pelicans -2 (-110 at bet365)

Suns vs Pelicans same-game parlay

Pelicans -2.5

Grayson Allen Over 2.5 threes

CJ McCollum Over 3.5 threes

50% boost available

+650 +925 at DraftKings

My same-game parlay for Friday is all about 3-point shooting. In addition to my best bet, I’m taking the Over on both Allen and McCollum’s 3-point props.

Frank Vogel has been vocal about wanting the Suns to generate more threes, and New Orleans will be only too happy to oblige. The Pelicans allow a higher rate of opponent 3s than every team in the Association excluding the Chicago Bulls. Allen has been one of the few role player bets that have paid off for Phoenix this season. 

He’s spacing the floor for the Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, and Bradley Beal trio and making defenses pay for hiding their worst defender on him. He’s shooting better than 53% from deep through eight games in January and is averaging four made 3s in that span.

McCollum is also on a hot streak of late. With Ingram and Zion both gun-shy from behind the arc, his role is to stay aggressive from behind the arc whenever he’s with the starting unit. CJ is shooting 48.4% from deep in his last eight games and is hitting 3.9 treys per game.

Learn how to bet a same-game parlay with these helpful tips and strategies.

Suns vs Pelicans spread and Over/Under analysis

The Pelicans have been pegged as slight -2 to -2.5 point favorites for Friday’s tilt.

These teams are both 7-3 straight up over their last 10 games but the Pels have been far steadier against the spread. Phoenix has been one of the worst teams against the spread all season long, and that trend has only further consolidated over their last 10 games.

While Phoenix is 3-7 ATS in that time, New Orleans is just the opposite at 7-3.

New Orleans has signature wins against multiple Western Conference playoff contenders in that span too, including the Sacramento Kings, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Los Angeles Lakers. Four of their last seven wins have been by 20 or more points.

The Suns are also just 4-7 ATS as the underdog this season.

The total for Suns at Pelicans opened at 234.5 and has since climbed as high as to 237 at some sportsbooks. That original total was far too modest given the collective firepower on these teams. While I think the Pels will be able to slow down the Suns to some extent, I do think the Suns can manufacture some offense by taking the 3s the New Orleans defense offers. 

At the original price this would have been a strong Over bet, but this new number makes it a stay away for me.

Suns vs Pelicans betting trend to know

The Pelicans are 7-3 ATS in their last 10 games. Find more NBA betting trends for Suns vs. Pelicans.

Suns vs Pelicans game info

Suns vs Pelicans latest injuries

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