Trent Reinsmith
- Date & Location: Thursday, April 28 at Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, LA
- Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
- How to Watch: Bally Sports NO, Bally Sports AZ, TNT
The Phoenix Suns and New Orleans Pelicans have alternated wins and losses over the course of the first five games of their 2022 NBA Round 1 Western Conference Playoff Series. The Suns, who had the best record of the 2022 NBA regular season, hold a 3-2 game lead over the Pelicans as the series returns to New Orleans for tonight’s Game 6. If the Suns win, they will close out the series and move onto the second round of the playoffs. If New Orleans triumphs, the teams will meet on Saturday in Phoenix for Game 7.
The Suns are the No. 1 team in the Western Conference. The Pelicans are the No. 8 team in the West.
Before we look at Game 6 of the 2022 NBA Playoff Series between the Phoenix Suns and the New Orleans Pelicans, check out the odds for the 2022 NBA Playoffs and our guide to betting on the upcoming 2022 NBA Finals.
Suns vs. Pelicans Game 6 odds
| Teams |  |  |  |  |
| Phoenix Suns | -120 | -120 | -118 | -125 |
| New Orleans Pelicans | +100 | +100 | +102 | +105 |
Phoenix Suns breakdown and analysis
The Phoenix Suns finished Game 5 of their series against the New Orleans Pelicans with momentum. Not only did the team win 112-97, but they closed out the game with three statement-making dunks. One of those dunks came from Mikal Bridges, who led the team in scoring in Game 5 with 31 points. In the previous four games of the series, Bridges had not scored more than 19 points and he was coming off an 8-point performance in Game 4.
Another player who bounced back from a poor Game 4 was Chris Paul. Paul had four points in Game 4, but put up 22 in Game 5.
If the Suns are going to repeat last year’s run to the NBA Final, they are going to need players like Bridges and Paul to play well. The Suns are going to be without star player Devin Booker for a few weeks. Booker sustained a Grade 1 hamstring tear in Game 2 of the series. Booker’s loss is a big one. In the first two games of the Pelicans series, he averaged 28.0 points, 3.0 rebounds and 4.5 assists in 33.0 minutes.
New Orleans Pelicans breakdown and analysis
Brandon Ingram has stepped up his game during the first round playoff series between the New Orleans Pelicans and the Phoenix Suns. Ingram averaged 22.7 points per game during the regular season. He has bumped that average to 28.2 points per game in the series against the Suns. In games two through four, Ingram put up 37, 34 and 30 points. He played a series high 41 minutes in the Game 5 loss and had 22 points. His field goal percentage dropped from a high of 61.9 percent in Game 2 to 36.8 percent in Game 5. If the Pelicans are to stretch this series to seven games, Ingram is likely going to need a game of 30 or more points in Game 6.
C.J. McCollum is also playing well for the Pelicans in the postseason. He has averaged 23.4 points during the postseason, which is up from his 22.1 points in the regular season. McCollum’s point totals fell off in Games 4 and 5. He scored 30 in Game 3 and then 18 and 21 in the following two outings.
2021-22 NBA season series
The Suns and the Pelicans played four times during the 2021-22 NBA regular season. Phoenix won three of the four games (131-115, 123-110, 112-100). The one game New Orleans won took place in Phoenix. Devin Booker played in all four of those games for the Suns.
Our Pick
The Suns are not a one player team and so they should be able to absorb the loss of Booker against the Pelicans, something they have done in two of the three games they have played without him in this series. I expect Phoenix to close things out on Thursday night in New Orleans.
Pick: Phoenix Suns to beat New Orleans Pelicans.
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