Pick against the spread, over/under for Pelicans vs. Suns on Tuesday

The New Orleans Pelicans will look to take a lead in the series after handily defeating the Phoenix Suns in Game 4 at home. The two teams will meet at Footprint Center on Tuesday night, with both needing a win to take a big step towards advancing. The action tips off at 10:00 p.m. ET in Phoenix and will be shown on TNT.

The Suns are 6.5-point favorites at home tonight, with moneyline odds at -265 at DraftKings Sportsbook. The Pels come in at +215 with the point total set at 215.5.

Pelicans vs. Suns, 10:00 p.m. ET

Pick ATS: Suns -6.5 (-105)

The Suns find themselves in a spot nobody expected as they were dominated in Game 4 by the No. 8 seed, leaving the series all knotted up at two apiece. Devin Booker is still out with a hamstring injury, creating a giant hole in their offense that coach Monty Williams is still trying to cover. If Phoenix keeps playing this way without Booker, the Pelicans could very well be on their way to a first round upset, ending the Suns’ dream season as title favorites entering the playoffs.

If we know anything about the Suns from this season, though, it’s that they’re very good at adjusting the gameplan and turning things around when they start to go south. Phoenix was one of the best three-point shooting teams this year, going 36.4 percent from downtown in the regular season. That has dropped to 29.3 percent in the postseason. The Suns had an off night in New Orleans, and should be able to regroup in front of their home crowd for Game 5, even without Booker. Chris Paul ended with four points in Game 4, which is a rare occurrence and hard to imagine he’ll fall that short in back-to-back games.

The Pelicans certainly have a shot with players like Brandon Ingram and CJ McCollum stepping up in a big way for the underdogs. Regardless, I think the Suns will regroup with a statement win at home tonight in front of their home fans.

Over/Under: Under 215.5

This series is 3-1 to the over so far, but expect the Suns to slow down the pace and take their time at home. I’d expect them to come out with a defense-first mentality in hopes of stopping the Pelicans from going on big scoring runs altogether. They’ll rely heavily on Paul to bear a lot of the offensive burden with Booker sidelined. Take the under in this one, as it’s likely to be a lower scoring game than the first four of the series.

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