Phoenix Suns v New Orleans Pelicans 12/11 Game Preview
Phoenix Suns (7-16) v New Orleans Pelicans (7-17)
Sunday 12/11/2016 6:30pm
Talking Stick Resort Arena, Phoenix, AZ
Fox Sports Arizona/Arizona Sports 98.7FM
Season Series – Suns lead 1-0
All-Time Series – Phoenix Leads 28-21
Last Matchup – November 4, 2016 Phoenix won 112-111 in OT
Suns’ Last game – Win over the Los Angeles Lakers 119-115
Pelicans’ Last Game – Loss to the Los Angeles Clippers 133-105
Suns’ Scoring Averages – PTS/G: 106.3 (8th of 30) Opp PTS/G: 113.0 (29th of 30)
Pelicans’ Scoring Averages – PTS/G: 101.8 (22nd of 30) Opp PTS/G: 106.3 (21st of 30)
Preview
Phoenix Suns
Missing four players, including starters D’Angelo Russell and Nick Young, the Suns took advantage and pulled out a hard fought, tough win in Los Angeles behind 30 points, 9 assists, and 4 rebounds from Eric Bledsoe. For a recap and official Valley of the Suns opinions of the game, read here…Phoenix is now second in the NBA in field goal attempts, .3 behind New York, and sitting at 88.8. However, their 44.2% field goal percentage is good for 19th overall…Earlier this week Head Coach Earl Watson said that he wanted the Suns to take more threes. They are 4th overall in three’s attempted at 23.6; 27th in threes made at 7.9; and convert the shot 33.3% of the time which is 22nd in the league…Although they are slipping from their once top perch, Phoenix is still 6th in the league averaging 45.1 rebounds per game…Tyson Chandler leads the team with 10.9 per game and while he still averages 14.7 per 36 minutes (Tyson is only receiving about 26.6 minutes on the court per game) Alex Len is averaging 12.0 per 36 minutes as well. Chandler is 5th in the league in rebounds per 36 minutes among players who have played in at least 10 games this season…Despite 26 assists against the Lakers, Phoenix still remains last in the NBA in assists per game, at 18.6 per game…Not only is Phoenix last in the league in personal fouls with 25.6 per game, but they are last as well in technical fouls, averaging 1.0 per game…The Suns have slipped a little bit in opponent fouls per game, and are 5th overall being fouled 21.9 times per game…Because of all the fouls, the Suns gie up 20.5% of all points on free throws, .4% ahead of league worst Memphis…Phoenix remains at 2nd in the league in Pace with 101.5…After his 30 point game against LA, Eric Bledsoe has retaken the team lead in scoring at 19.3 to Devin Booker’s 18.8…Jared Dudley is still the above average three-point shooter that he was last season in Washington, as he is making 41.8% of his three point attempts, and is just two off of the team lead with 33 made…Devin Booker is making 32.4% of his (tied with Dragan Bender), and leads the team in makes and attempts with 35-108…80.4% of P.J. Tucker’s three-point attempts are from the corner. He makes them at a 27.0% clip…Alex Len and Tyson Chandler are neck-and neck in made dunks, with Len taking the upper hand, 23-22…
New Orleans Pelicans
There is a lot of early speculation about who might be MVP this season, but Anthony Davis has to be near the top, averaging 31.4 points, 11.4 rebounds, 2.8 blocks, 1.7 steals, and 2.2 assists. The need to watch out for him…The Pelicans are 10th in the league in pace with 97.8. By correlation, they are 12th overall with 86.5 field goal attempts per game; 21st overall with 24.5 three-point attempts; and 9th with 22.6 assists per game…Defensively New Orleans is 2nd in the NBA in blocks per game with 6.0…They are 1.1 steals behind the Suns at 7.7 per game, good for 19th in the league…New Orleans is not a prolific fouling team, sitting 8th in the league in personal fouls called at 18.8. Their 493 free throws attempted by opponents at 20.5 per game is 6th best in the NBA…New Orleans is a consistent scoring team per half, although they are less a second half team than a first. Their scoring average per quarter is as follows: 26.4, 26.2, 23.8, 23.5…New Orleans gives up about 30.8% of their opponents points on three-pointers…New Orleans is 6th in the league in possessions per game at 102.9, 3.6 behind league leader Phoenix…The Pelicans average 12.2 turnovers per game, for 11th in the league, 2.8 better than the Suns…90.0% of Omer Asik’s field goal attempts are from 0-3 feet from the basket. 8.3% are from 3-10 feet…Anthony Brown (58.5%), Buddy Heild (51.9%), Langston Galloway (51.7%), and Solomon Hill (50.0%), each average at least 50% of their field goal attempts from beyond the arc…They average 26.0%, 28.3%, 37.2%, and 32.1% from three, respectively…
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