New Orleans at Phoenix
Time: 9 PM CT (NBA LP)
Spread: NOP -11.5
Total: 219
Odds c/o 5dimes
New Orleans
When the New Orleans Pelicans lost DeMarcus Cousins for the season, many figured it would be curtains to any hopes the team had at contending or even making the postseason. Not so! Anthony Davis has stepped up his play one notch further, and should be in serious contention for the league’s MVP Award (Though it likely will go to Houston’s James Harden!). Davis is one of the quickest and best offensive bigs since the juggernauts of the 1990s, and if the Pelicans are to ride any postseason success it will be on the shoulders of “Brow.” Meanwhile, Cousins recovers from an Achilles’ injury that will likely cause him to miss at least half of next season, as well.
However, his friendship with Davis bodes very well for the Pelicans re-signing “Boogie,” and most in NBA circles believe Cousins is, indeed, destined to return to New Orleans. Paramount also in the team’s surge sans Cousins, has been Jrue Holiday returning his play to an All-Star level. While once regarded as a pure point guard, Holiday has drawn defensive assignments at four positions, and his versatility is helping New Orleans overcome its lack of talent and depth at the 3-spot. Truth be told,
The Pelicans are a lot closer to building a complete team than most realize, and it will require adding a “three and D” wing player to replace the inefficient and poor play of Solomon Hill. Hill was a gamble by management, and a case of a team overspending to try to fill a position. While New Orleans once looked like a team riddled with “Holes” it now appears to be a team that is maybe one or two more moves away from being a true contender. And it is likely to crash the postseason after several years of struggling.
Phoenix Notes:
The Phoenix Suns have been mired in a horrible season, but made a clutch move at the trade deadline in acquiring Orlando Magic point guard and No. 10 overall pick in 2014 Elfrid Payton, for the lost cost of a second round pick. Phoenix now possibly has obtained its point guard of the future, though the list of black marks on Elfrid’s resume do abound. Magic analysts cited his poor defense and overall poor basketball IQ as ultimately irresolvable for the Orlando team, and it certainly did not defend well. Payton now transitions to a Suns team, however, which also has been poor defensively.
Phoenix allows 112.6 points per game while scoring just 104.4 itself. No team surrenders more buckets than the Suns, so can Payton manage to make that defense any worse? Perhaps he gets energized playing with his new team and star shooting guard Devin Booker, who is inarguably better than every talent Payton shared the court with while in Orlando. The Suns now have a really intriguing backcourt, and the Magic simply are trying to shed the team of what it had from the Rob Hennigan era (with the obvious exception of Aaron Gordon).
Phoenix will benefit from Payton’s court vision and ability to push the tempo, and it really could be a match made in heaven. That is not to say Phoenix will start winning games en masse, but the realist’s outlook is that a former lottery pick with four triple doubles to his resume could flourish in a high octane offense with the Suns.
