Devastated by the recent three successive defeats, New Orleans Pelicans will look forward to play against the Phoenix Suns next in the NBA and try to put an end to the nine match consecutive loss streak. They are at the bottom of the Western Conference while their visitors are nine games ahead of the rest in the fifth position.
The NBA’s worst teams are headlined by the New Orleans with the second worst record in the league. In as many games as they have played 22 of them they have lost 18 times. Willie Green’s men were 124-112 to the Hawks last time out to conclude a three game’s road trip.
They are scoring a mere 103.3 points, which places them at the bottom in the league while conceding 116 points. Zion Williamson and Jose Alvarado are ineligible for this game owing to injuries. A combo of shooting guard, small forward and power forward; Brandon Ingram, Jordan Hawkins and Herb Jones respectively are doubtful.
The Suns have steadied the ship in the recent games and Shall come loaded with the intent to win here. At the moment, on the back of two consecutive victories, Mike Budenholzer’s men have garnered only three of the last four games.
In the previous games, they had been stretched to five consecutive fixture losses. The Phoenix who are on 12-8 stand made the beat of the Warriors and the Spurs successively.
They beat the Spurs 104-93 in their last game. Suns is scoring 112.7 points which is the same to the points the opponent’s are scoring against them. There is uncertainty for making the impactful player Jusuf Nurkic for this journey. Durant’s injury issues popped up again on Wednesday, as the future Hall of Famer can only watch from the sidelines for the next 1-2 weeks after only recently coming back from a strained calf. With KD injured yet again, the offense will be primarily be handled by the young Devin Booker.
The former Kentucky standout has been fine in 2023-24, averaging 25 points, 6.6 assist and 3.8 rebounds while starting all the games. Book has only reached the Over in points in two of the last five games, but again, the rock will be in his hands a lot here.
Booker also stepped up after Durant exited with an injury the other night, scoring 29 points in 38 minutes of action. We must also consider the New Orleans Pelicans' weak defensive rating, which ranks 28th. Last season, Booker dominated the Pels in three games, averaging a mind-boggling 43 points.
Tyus Jones has been an underappreciated addition to the Suns. They urgently needed another guard to complement Booker in the backcourt, and he delivered. Despite being primarily a bench player in previous seasons with Washington until 2023-24, Jones has stepped in and produced well at point guard for Phoenix.
He averages 11.7 points, 7.1 assists, and 2.6 rebounds while shooting 39.8% from three-point range. We're focusing on Jones' points because he's hit the Over in two consecutive games and five of his previous seven.
Point guards are averaging 23.5 points per game against the Pelicans this season. I'm not saying he'll erupt for 20+, but going over 12.5 shouldn't be a problem. With KD out, Jones will have more opportunities to score.
Zion Williamson is still out, while Brandon Ingram is questionable with a calf ailment. The Suns will complete the task and continue to win while rising to the top.500 vehicles are currently on the road in the process.
Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram, CJ McCollum, Dejounte Murray, Trey Murphy III, Jordan Hawkins, Herb Jones, and Jose Alvarado have all missed time due to injury, putting the Pels in a difficult position to challenge for the playoffs in 2024-25.
Although several of those players have returned, the Pels remain underdogs against Phoenix on Thursday.
