Pels without a chance against the Suns?
The Phoenix Suns and New Orleans Pelicans will contest their 2022 NBA postseason opener on Sunday night. The home side are looking back on the best regular season in their history and have therefore long been a particularly hot candidate for the title.
Last season, they made it all the way to the NBA Finals, where head coach Monty Williams’ team was defeated by the Milwaukee Bucks.
Phoenix Suns – Statistics & current form
The basketball players from the Valley won no less than 64 of their 82 games during the regular season. With this, they set a new franchise record, as mentioned at the beginning.
At the same time the record makes clear that the current team in Phoenix is in a dazzling shape. In Devin Booker they have one of the best scorers in the NBA and Chris Paul is already a legend in the game as an assist man.
No wonder that the fans are now hoping for the title after the already very successful last season. In the upcoming game, the Suns can also count on the home bonus: 78 percent of their home games in the regular season were won by the Suns – another best value in the NBA!
New Orleans Pelicans – Statistics & current form
NOLA finished the regular season in ninth place in the Western Conference. This meant that participation in the play-in tournament in the West was on the agenda.
The extra round in the fight for the playoffs started with a win against the San Antonio Spurs and then the Clippers were beaten. The last win in LA, however, was a real nailbiter. It was only thanks to a strong fourth quarter that the Californians were narrowly beaten 105-101.
On top of that, Fortuna helped a lot: Just a few hours before tip-off, Paul George had to go to the NBA’s Corona Protocol on the Clippers’ side, depriving their opponents of their best player.
Another thing that speaks against the guests is that they are not strong away from home: Only 41.5 percent of the visiting games within the regular season the Pels have been victorious.
Phoenix Suns – New Orleans Pelicans Tip
The Suns have never won the title in their history. But now it could be time – no team completed a better regular season. Phoenix’s hunger to win the championship is even stronger after last year’s loss in the final.
Just as head coach Paul Westphal did in 1993 when the Suns lost to Chicago in the NBA Finals with Michael Jordan on board, the current head coach Monty Williams also has an extremely powerful squad at his disposal like he hasn’t had in the Valley for a long time.
For the clash between the Phoenix Suns and New Orleans Pelicans in Game 1, the tip is for a clear home victory with at least an eleven-point lead.
The home side are superior to their opponents and will be fresher now that the visitors have already had to play two tough play-in games this week.
On top of that, the hosts can rely on the home advantage: No team in the NBA was stronger at home than the Suns in the regular season. In addition, the home side has won three of the four meetings with the Pels this season, always by a margin of at least eleven points.
