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The New Orleans Pelicans and Phoenix Suns will tip off slightly after the scheduled time of 8:30 p.m. Central due to a suspicious package near Atlanta’s State Farm Arena delaying the start of the Hawks-Heat matchup.
— Hawks PR (@HawksPR) April 22, 2022
Pelicans-Suns has been delayed to a 9 pm CT tip-off
— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) April 22, 2022
Since we’ve got a few extra minutes to fill, let’s talk championship aspirations because the Pelicans odds have jumped up significantly since the start of this week.
| Team | Championship Odds on morning of April 18 | Team | Championship Odds on morning of April 22 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phoenix Suns | 11/5 | Golden State Warriors | 11/4 | |
| Milwaukee Bucks | 9/2 | Boston Celtics | 9/2 | |
| Golden State Warriors | 21/4 | Phoenix Suns | 9/2 | |
| Boston Celtics | 7/1 | Miami Heat | 7/1 | |
| Miami Heat | 9/1 | Milwaukee Bucks | 9/1 | |
| Brooklyn Nets | 14/1 | Memphis Grizzlies | 10/1 | |
| Philadelphia 76ers | 16/1 | Philadelphia 76ers | 10/1 | |
| Memphis Grizzlies | 20/1 | Brooklyn Nets | 22/1 | |
| Utah Jazz | 22/1 | Dallas Mavericks | 25/1 | |
| Minnesota Timberwolves | 66/1 | Utah Jazz | 40/1 | |
| Dallas Mavericks | 80/1 | New Orleans Pelicans | 80/1 | |
| Denver Nuggets | 80/1 | Chicago Bulls | 100/1 | |
| Toronto Raptors | 125/1 | Minnesota Timberwolves | 200/1 | |
| Atlanta Hawks | 200/1 | Atlanta Hawks | 500/1 | |
| Chicago Bulls | 200/1 | Denver Nuggets | 500/1 | |
| New Orleans Pelicans | 250/1 | Toronto Raptors | 750/1 |
With no Devin Booker — perhaps for the rest of this first-round series — and the Pelicans winning game 2 in Phoenix, the improved odds should not come as a complete surprise.
That said, realize New Orleans is still considered a large underdog to advance against Phoenix. For instance, FiveThirtyEight is giving the Pelicans a 27% of moving to the next round.
For more on tonight’s game, please give our preview a read.
Who: New Orleans Pelicans (1-1) vs Phoenix Suns (1-1)
When: April 22, 2022, 9:00 p.m. CT (was originally 8:30 p.m.)
Where to watch: Bally Sports New Orleans, ESPN
Where to listen: ESPN 100.3 FM
For more Pelicans talk, subscribe to The Bird Calls podcast feed on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts. You can follow this author on Twitter at @OlehKosel.
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