New Orleans had to win two play-in games to get here and now must deal with a Suns team that had the league’s best regular season record. In the first play-in game, the Pelicans mostly controlled the Spurs from start to finish, only allowing the game to get close for a brief time in the fourth quarter. There were some wild swings vs. the Clippers with NO taking a 10-point lead into halftime, only to be outscored by 20 in the third quarter.

But the Pelicans obviously bounced back in the fourth quarter where they outscored the Clippers (who didn’t have Paul George) 31-17. While New Orleans shot exceptionally well (54.3%) against San Antonio, that game was at home. On the road, they could only 27.3 percent from three vs. the Clippers.

Phoenix is one of the highest scoring teams in the league, but their last five regular season contests all went Under. Some of that had to do with the lack of stakes involved (they’d already clinched the top seed), but it would be a mistake to discount the Suns’ defense. Visitors only shoot 43.8% here in Phoenix (for the year).

The two times these teams played in Phoenix this year, the Under ended up going 2-0. Since the Suns have been off for awhile (a whole week), they may not be sharp offensively.

The Pelicans held the Spurs to 103 points and the Clippers to 101 points. Both of those games stayed Under. The Under is 15-5-1 in their previous 21 road games.