New Orleans Pelicans vs Phoenix Suns Prediction, 12/17/2022 Preview and Pick

Game: New Orleans Pelicans vs Phoenix Suns

Date: Saturday, December 17, 2022

Location: Footprint Center in Phoenix, AZ

TV: Bally Sports Arizona

The New Orleans Pelicans are headed to Footprint Center on Saturday where they will go up against the Phoenix Suns.

The Pelicans played the Jazz and walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 121-100 in their last game. New Orleans ended the contest having earned a 39.8% FG percentage (37 out of 93) and buried 4 of their 27 3-point attempts. From the free throw line, the Pelicans made 22 of their 33 attempts for a percentage of 66.7%. In the matter of grabbing rebounds, they compiled a total of 43 with 15 of them being on the offensive end. They also doled out 25 assists in this game while forcing 19 turnovers and earning 12 steals. When talking about defense, New Orleans allowed the other team to go 47.6% from the field on 49 out of 103 shooting. Utah doled out 31 assists and had 4 steals for the matchup. Additionally, Utah snagged 59 rebounds (19 offensive, 40 defensive) and earned 3 blocks. Utah ended up shooting 66.7% from the charity stripe by burying 8 of their 12 attempts. They also made 15 out of their 47 tries from 3-point land. In relation to personal fouls, the Pelicans ended up finishing with 17 while the Jazz totaled 23 personal fouls.

Zion Williamson is a player who was a major factor in this game. He ended up walking away with 26 points on 10 out of 16 shooting. He saw the court for 26 minutes and snagged 9 rebounds. Williamson shot 62.5% from the field and recorded 5 assists.

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New Orleans will take the court with a win-loss mark of 18-9 on the campaign. They have an average of 117.0 pts per game (5th in the league) while going 48.5% from the field. The Pelicans are connecting on 36.0% on shots from downtown (293 of 813) and 78.6% from the charity stripe. As a unit, New Orleans is pulling down 45.1 boards per game and is sitting with 728 assists this season, which ranks 10th in the NBA in terms of passing. They are losing possession via turnover 14.8 times per game and as a unit are committing 19.6 fouls per contest.

Defensively, the Pelicans are forcing their opponents into 16.3 turnovers per game and they draw 20.6 personal fouls. They currently rank 9th in basketball in giving up assists to the opposition with 692 surrendered so far this season. The Pelicans defense is allowing an opponent FG percentage of 46.1% (1,113 of 2,412) and they surrender 42.5 boards per game as a squad. They concede 33.5% on shots from beyond the perimeter and they are ranked 9th in basketball in points per game from their opponents (111.0).

For their last game, the Suns took a loss by a final score of 111-97 against the Rockets. Concerning rebounds, Phoenix allowed Houston to collect 67 in total (17 on the offensive side). They shot 34.3% from behind the 3-point line by going 12 out of 35 and ended up going 31 of 34 at the free throw line (91.2%). The Suns permitted the Rockets to make 34 of 81 tries from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 42.0% in the matchup. When the final whistle blew, the Suns finished shooting 33 out of 103 from the field which had them shooting 32.0%. When discussing shots from 3-point land, Phoenix converted 13 of 51 attempts (25.5%). They were able to make 18 of the free throws for a percentage of 94.7%. The Rockets committed 21 fouls in this game which got the Suns to the free throw line for a total of 19 attempts. They coughed up the ball 9 times, while getting 13 steals for this game. The Suns were able to snag 26 defensive boards and 18 offensive rebounds for a total of 44 for the contest.

Mikal Bridges ended up being a major contributor for the Suns for this game. Bridges scored 18 points in his 38 minutes on the court and accumulated 3 assists for this contest. He made 4 out of 24 for the matchup for a rate of 16.7%, and added 3 rebounds.

Phoenix has a win-loss mark of 16-12 so far this season. The Suns are committing 21.8 personal fouls every game and they connect on 80.7% from the free throw line. They are dishing out assists 27.4 times per contest (3rd in basketball) and they cough up possession 13.7 times per game. Phoenix has scored 3,232 pts on the year (115.4 per game) and they pull in 43.2 rebounds per game. As an offense, the Suns are connecting on 47.0% from the floor, which is ranked 15th in the NBA.

The Phoenix defense allows 36.0% on 3-point attempts (308 of 855) and their opponents are knocking down 80.7% of their foul shots. They surrender 23.1 dimes and 43.0 rebounds on a nightly basis, which ranks 6th and 12th in the NBA. The Suns on defense are ranked 10th in the NBA in points per game surrendered with 111.3. They are forcing their opponents into 15.9 TO's per game and have allowed teams to shoot 46.9% from the field (16th in basketball).

Who will win tonight's NBA game against the spread?

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Phoenix

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