The Grizzlies could not contain the hot-shotting Timberwolves offence yesterday and my NBA record levelled out at 2-2.

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Best Bet: Pelicans (+10.5) @ Suns $$

The Pelicans got a huge win in LA to claim their spot in the playoffs from the 9th seed. I suggested last week New Orleans could claim that spot. They needed Paul George to catch covid to make it a reality, but it was an impressive effort nonetheless. The Pelicans are playing their best basketball of the season at the best possible time. It will be fun to see how far they can push that.

One trend I am noticing is teams playing through the play-in tournament seem to have a little boost in their first playoff game against teams who haven’t played in a week. We saw it yesterday with the Wolves winning in Memphis. The Grizzlies did the same last year winning game one in Utah before losing four consecutive to go out in just five games. NO needs to win at least one game on the road in order to win this series and game one may be their best chance to do so. I at least expect them to come out fast and with confidence to at least keep this game close.

I am not picking the Pelicans to win the series, but it may be closer than most people think. It will be interesting to see if the Suns can be as dominant in the post-season as they were in the regular season. I want to see them play a few games before I label them as the NBA championship favourites.

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