Tip-off: Wednesday, 9:05 p.m. ET
Line: Phoenix -4

The surging Pelicans seek their third straight win, and second in four days versus the Suns, when these teams meet again on Wednesday night in the desert.

Although New Orleans (5-9 ATS) is playing its best ball of the season with back-to-back home wins over the Spurs and Suns, this team has yet to win away from home with an 0-7 SU mark (2-5 ATS) on the road. Phoenix (8-6 ATS) just concluded a three-game road trip with two straight defeats, including a 98-84 loss at San Antonio on Monday, but has played well at home this year where it is 5-3 (SU and ATS). When these teams squared off on Sunday, the Pelicans prevailed 122-116 with a dominant 44-22 advantage in Points in the Paint, while the Suns stayed in the game by draining 17-of-36 threes (47%). That gives the home teams four straight wins (3-1 ATS) in this series, and in the past three seasons, Phoenix hold a 5-3 SU advantage while New Orleans has the 5-3 ATS edge. There are multiple positive betting trends on both sides for Wednesday, as the Pelicans are 29-15 ATS (66%) after playing a game as a favorite over the past two seasons, and excellent offensive road teams (102+ PPG) facing horrible defenses (102+ PPG), after scoring 100+ points in three straight games are 184-118 ATS (61%) since 1996. However, the Suns are 15-5 ATS (75%) following a double-digit road loss in the past three seasons and 23-10 ATS (70%) versus poor rebounding teams (RPG margin of -3 or worse) in this same timeframe. Each team could be missing a key piece of their backcourt on Wednesday as New Orleans SG Tyreke Evans (knee) is doubtful and Phoenix SG Eric Bledsoe (knee) is questionable to return after missing last game.

Can the Spurs stay unbeaten at home with a comfortable win? For the answer, connect to The Platinum Sheet for all the Expert picks throughout the entire 2015-16 season.

New Orleans has scored a respectable 102.1 PPG on 44.4% FG and 34.5% threes this season, but has been terrible on the road with only 93.7 PPG on 42.6% FG and 33.2% threes. However, the team had little trouble scoring on Phoenix on Sunday with 122 points on 46% FG, 37% threes (11-of-30) and 83% FT (33-of-40). PF Anthony Davis (23.3 PPG, 10.3 RPG, 2.6 BPG) was the star of the last matchup with a game-high 32 points, 19 rebounds, four blocks and +16 rating. Davis made 11-of-22 FG and 9-of-11 FT while grabbing six offensive rebounds. SG Eric Gordon (18.5 PPG, 3.2 APG, 1.2 SPG) also had a nice offensive output with 20 points (5-of-12 threes), four assists, four rebounds and two steals. New Orleans needs to get production from its bench, and did just that on Sunday when reserve PF Ryan Anderson (19.3 PPG, 7.0 RPG) dropped 29 points (8-of-14 FG, 4-of-7 threes, 9-of-9 FT) and backup PG Ish Smith (11.0 PPG, 7.9 APG, 4.0 RPG, 1.1 SPG) had a near triple-double with 17 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. In the past four games, Anderson has scored 28.3 PPG on 56% FG and 15-of-32 threes (47%), while Smith has pumped in 16.3 PPG, 8.8 APG and 4.8 RPG. The possible return of versatile SG Tyreke Evans (16.6 PPG, 6.6 APG, 5.3 RPG, 1.3 SPG last season) who hasn't played yet this season, will be a big boost for this squad. The Pelicans defense has been dreadful this season in surrendering 108.9 PPG on 46.5% FG and 40.9% threes, but they have limited their two opponents during their modest win streak to a mere 39.7% FG.

Phoenix has a potent offense that likes to push the pace with 104.9 PPG on 44.3% FG and a blistering 39.3% threes. But this club needs to figure out how to score inside the arc, as it shot a miserable 33% (18-of-54) on two-point field goal tries in Sunday's loss at New Orleans. The Suns thrive from their backcourt of SG Eric Bledsoe (23.2 PPG, 5.8 APG, 4.2 RPG, 2.0 SPG) and PG Brandon Knight (21.4 PPG, 5.4 APG, 4.5 RPG, 1.4 SPG) who are shooting 39% and 41%, respectively, from three-point range. Bledsoe posted his eighth straight 20-point game on Sunday when he lit up the Pelicans for 29 points (7-of-15 FG, 4-of-8 threes, 11-of-12 FT), seven rebounds and six assists, but he also had five turnovers and five fouls. He missed Monday's game with a knee injury, and if he can't play Thursday, Knight will continue to be the go-to player on offense. He has been scoring in bunches with 18+ points in five straight games (25.6 PPG on 47% threes), but made only 5-of-18 shots on Sunday, and has nearly as many turnovers (22) as assists (25) over the past four contests. When Phoenix feeds the paint, the ball usually goes to PF Markieff Morris (13.7 PPG, 5.5 RPG), who entered Monday with a dismal 37% FG and 27% threes on the season, but lit up the Spurs for 28 points on 12-of-15 FG with eight boards before fouling out. Morris also contributed a strong 17 points and eight rebounds on Sunday versus New Orleans. The Suns are not a bad defensive team with 102.3 PPG allowed on 45.7% FG and 33.9% threes, and they have been much stingier at home with 98.6 PPG allowed on 44.7% FG. However, visitors are shooting a hefty 37.2% threes at Talking Stick Resort Arena.