Tip-off: Thursday, 10:05 p.m. ET
Line: N/A, Total: N/A

The Phoenix Suns attempt to get back in the Western Conference playoff race when they host the New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday night.

The Pelicans have found themselves fighting for the final spot in the playoffs and have done so with SU victories in 10 of their past 13 contests (8-5 ATS). They made better than 47% of their field goals in nine of those games and had 100+ points seven different times. New Orleans had a close game when they hosted the Bucks on Tuesday, winning 85-84 as 7-point favorites in a sloppy matchup. Both teams shot worse than 38% from the floor and in the end it was the extra points that the Pelicans earned from long range and the charity stripe that was the difference as they had four more three-pointers and three more made free throws. On the other hand, the Suns have not been playing the best basketball and are 6-8 SU (8-5-1 ATS) since the All-Star break. The offense has been putrid recently, netting a mere 93.2 PPG in their past nine games as they shot worse than 43% as a team six times over that period. Phoenix earned an easy draw when they faced New York on Sunday as an 11.5-point favorite at home, dominating with a 102-89 victory. The team hit 49.4% of its field goals in the game and outrebounded the Knicks 38-29. The road has not been good to New Orleans as it is just 14-18 SU (18-14 ATS) in away games as it faces-off against a Suns group which is 19-15 SU (17-17 ATS) at home. This will be the second meeting between these teams so far on the year and the Pelicans won a high-scoring affair 110-106 as 2-point home favorites the first time. They were scorching hot from the field in the win, hitting 42-of-81 shots (52% FG), including making 8-of-18 shots from three-point range (44% 3PM). Phoenix had won the previous four games leading up to that contest, going 3-1 ATS in that time behind 103.8 PPG. Trends to watch before dropping any cash on this game include that New Orleans is 17-6 ATS (74%) after failing to cover two of its past three games ATS this year while the Suns are 12-4 ATS (75%) when revenging a loss where the opponent scored 110 or more points this season. On the injury front, PF Ryan Anderson (Knee) and PG Jrue Holiday (Ankle) remain out for the Pelicans as PG Brandon Knight (Ankle) and C Alex Len (Ankle) are listed as questionable for Phoenix.

New Orleans tends to be solid yet unspectacular in most aspects of the game and it has scored 99.7 PPG (16th in league) on 45.7% shooting (9th in league). On the other side of the ball the Pelicans are allowing opponents to score 99.0 PPG (12th in league) behind 45.6% shooting (8th-worst in league). PF Anthony Davis (24.6 PPG, 10.4 PPG, 2.9 BPG, 1.4 SPG) continues to dominate the league and has averaged 27.4 PPG, 10.4 RPG and 4.4 BPG over the past five contests. He had another great performance (19 points, 18 rebounds, 1 block) in the first meeting with Phoenix earlier in the year. PG Tyreke Evans (16.8 PPG, 6.5 APG, 5.4 RPG, 1.2 SPG) filled the stat sheet (12 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal) as he made a mere 5-of-18 shots in the win over the Bucks on Tuesday. He also struggled from the field (8-for-20) against the Suns in December, scoring 24 points to go with eight rebounds and four assists. SG Eric Gordon (13.3 PPG, 3.9 APG) has made just 41.4% of his shots over his past four performances and is coming off a bad showing (9 points, 7 assists) against Milwaukee. He didn’t play against the Suns in the first matchup of the year but scored 18.3 PPG (46% FG) with 5.0 APG and 2.3 APG against them in three games last year.

Phoenix has not stopped being one of the best offensive teams in the league as it ranks fourth in the league in scoring (104.6 PPG) and makes 45.6% of its shots (12th in league). Where the Suns falter is on defense as they are giving up 104.2 PPG (4th-worst in league) on 45.1% shooting (13th-worst in league). PG Eric Bledsoe (17.2 PPG, 6.1 APG, 5.4 RPG, 1.7 SPG) had a near triple-double (21 points, 11 assists, 9 rebounds) and added two steals in the win over the Knicks on Sunday. He also did very well (21 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks, 2 steals) in the loss to the Pelicans in late December. PF Markieff Morris (15.3 PPG, 5.8 RPG) has scored 20+ points in two of his past three contests and has shown some nice defensive stats (3.0 SPG, 1.0 BPG) in that time. He did score 13 points when he last saw New Orleans but did very little (2 rebounds, 1 assist) in the other parts of his game. SF P.J. Tucker (8.8 PPG, 6.4 RPG, 1.3 SPG) has played some big minutes (36.2 MPG) in his last five outings but still hasn’t done much (9.2 PPG) offensively. He didn’t have the best of games against the Pelicans with 10 points, five rebounds, one block and a steal.