Rundown of biggest storyline, key matchup, team stats, who could emerge as Suns' X-factor, and injury report for Sunday's Game 1 in Phoenix.
Tale of two seasons for Pelicans — New Orleans ended the regular season on a 36-46 losing record. The Pelicans looked like a draft lottery-bound team without their former No. 1 pick and young All-Star Zion Williamson, who's been out all year from a foot injury, at the start of the 2021-22 season. They were 6-17 through Dec. 1, including a nine-game losing streak from Oct. 27-Nov. 12.
Big Threes — Suns' top trio is Booker, Paul, and center Deandre Ayton. Can the Pelicans' top trio of McCollum, swingman Brandon Ingram, and starting big Jonas Valanciunas measure up to beat the Suns? Foul calls — will the Suns get more calls as the No. 1 overall seed favored to win the championship now that they have home-court throughout the playoffs?Suns have dominated Pelicans in the last 10 matchups, winning eight of them. That includes going 3-1 against New Orleans during this past regular season. The Pelicans only win against them was in Phoenix, 117-102, on Feb. 25. The average margin of victory was 14 points in their last four matchups.
Phoenix is the league's fifth-highest points scored per game , averaged the best team net rating , and were the third-best in holding their opponents to 44.4% per contest and defensive net rating .
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