Phoenix Suns (66-20) vs New Orleans Pelicans (40-48)
Game Info: Tuesday, April 26, 2022 at 10:00 pm (Footprint Center)
Betting Odds: Phoenix Suns -5.5 -- Over/Under: 214.5 Click Here for the Latest Odds
The Phoenix Suns play host to the New Orleans Pelicans in a pivotal Game 5 at the Footprint Center on Tuesday night.
The New Orleans Pelicans will be aiming to take the lead in the series for the first time after squaring up the ledger with a 118-103 win in Game 4 on Sunday. Brandon Ingram led the team with 30 points and five assists, Jonas Valanciunas added 26 points with 15 rebounds and four assists while CJ McCollum chipped in with 18 points, nine rebounds and two assists. As a team, the Pelicans shot 47 percent from the field and just six of 24 from the 3-point line as they struggled to contain the Suns in the first half and trailed going into halftime, before they exploded for 69 points in the second half to earn the crucial win in front of their home crowd.
Meanwhile, the Phoenix Suns will be feeling like they let one slip after getting blown out in the second half of Game 4. DeAndre Ayton had his shot going early and led the team with 23 points on 11 of 14 shooting, JaVale McGee added 14 points off the bench while Cameron Johnson chipped in with 13 points. As a team, the Suns shot 50 percent from the field and a miserly seven of 27 from the 3-point line as they controlled most of the first half thanks to some efficient scoring from their bigs, Ayton and McGee, but Chris Paul finished with just four points on two of eight shooting as he struggled against the Pelicans’ pesky defense. Cameron Payne tried to help off the bench with eight points on three of 10 shooting, but the Suns backcourt were simply outplayed on Sunday which doesn’t happen too often.
Looking at the betting trends, the Pelicans are 14-6 ATS in their last 20 road games, 3-7 ATS in their last 10 games against a team with a winning record and 1-4 ATS in their last five games overall. The Suns are 2-7 ATS in their last nine games as a favorite and 1-7 ATS in their last eight games playing on one days’ rest.
Head to head, the over is 4-1 in the last five meetings overall and the Pelicans are 2-6 ATS in the last eight meetings overall.
The Pelicans were able to make this series very interesting with an upset win in Game 4 thanks to big games from their two best players and nice cameos from their role players, so the pressure is now on the Suns to hold strong at home to reclaim the lead. I wouldn’t be shocked if the Pelicans pulled off another upset in this one, but I just don’t see CP3 having another quiet game after struggling on Sunday. I don't think the Pelicans' role players perform as well in this one as they did at home, so I'm sticking with the Suns to reclaim control with a win and cover here.