Game Preview: Suns travel to New Orleans for important battle against Pelicans

who: phoenix suns (43-31) @ New Orleans Pelicans (45-29)

when: 5pm Arizona time

where: Smoothie King Center (New Orleans, Louisiana)

clock: NBA TV, Arizona's Family 3TV / Arizona's Family Sports

listen:KMVP 98.7

The Phoenix Suns will play the Pelicans tonight, completing a five-game road trip in New Orleans. So far, they have alternated wins and losses, including a win in Denver, splitting the road trip with 2 wins and 2 losses.

Time is running out. The team is tied with the Kings, 43 wins and 31 losses, but the Kings hold the tiebreaker and move into the 8th seed. They are just two games behind Dallas and New Orleans, who are the fifth and sixth seeds, respectively.

A win tonight would earn them a full game against the Pelicans, which is an important game for them to make the playoffs. Last night was a brutal night for Phoenix in the standings, with the Clippers, Mavs, Kings, Lakers, and Warriors all winning.

The Suns are coming off a 123-108 road loss to the Thunder in Oklahoma City without action from the SGA. Phoenix and New Orleans have only faced off once this season, with the Suns winning 123-109 on Jan. 19 at Smoothie King Center.

The teams will meet again in Phoenix on April 7 for the third and final meeting of the season series.

Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images

Starter candidate

phoenix

• Jusuf Nurkic
• kevin durant
• grayson allen
• bradley beer
• Devin Booker

new orleans

• Jonas Valanciunas
• Zion Williamson
• herb jones
• trey murphy iii
• CJ McCollum

Reporting an injury

Sands:

• Damion Lee — OUT (right meniscal surgery)

Pelicans:

• Brandon Ingram — OUT (left knee; bone bruise)
• Jose Alvarado — OUT (right oblique; strain)

jersey matchup

Suns' key to victory

The Phoenix must win, or at least remain neutral, in a battle against a powerhouse team called the Pelicans. Between Jonas Valanciunas and Zion Williamson and the long wings in Jones and Murphy, this team has size.

Limit second-chance points, box out, and force the Pelicans' mistakes away and make up for them in transition. It's a recipe that has worked wonders for the Suns this season.

• take care of basketball

If the Suns can play on the glass and limit their turnovers, they will be a dangerous team. These two areas were their kryptonite all season long, allowing opponents to outscore them by ridiculous margins.

Neutralize the Pelicans on the boards and take care of the ball. Concise and simple.

Willie Green and company will be looking for ways to expose Phoenix's inconsistent defense. To stretch consistently and for long periods of time, your intensity level needs to be high. Traps, on-screen displays, rotations, finishing the shooter, communication… everything.

It's one of the most important games of the season for the Phoenix Suns, and they need to be on the same page in what should be a hostile environment.

The key for Phoenix will be to contain CJ McCollum and Zion Williamson as the Pels' offensive anchors. These two could get buckets in a hurry and have good role players surrounding them, but Phoenix will need to put pressure on these two in particular without Brandon Ingram. .

The Suns have a chance to control their destiny with a win against the Pelicans tonight. Not only will they gain a game in the standings, but they will also secure the season series tiebreaker in a head-to-head matchup. If they win both of their upcoming games against the Pelicans (April 1st and 7th), they'll get two full games in the standings against New Orleans, a great way to jump a seed (or two) in the process. will be in the position of

prediction

The Suns came out and got a tough road win. 122-111.

I remain optimistic here and they will need it.