The Phoenix Suns dominated most teams in the 2021-22 regular season and finished it with a league-best record of 64-18. In fact, it is the most number of wins that the Suns have ever registered in their franchise history.
Naturally, fans have huge expectations from the team and they believe that the Suns are the favorites to at least reach the NBA Finals from the West.
Well, the franchise certainly started off their 2022 postseason run on a good note. Considering they faced off against the eighth-seeded New Orleans Pelicans, the series shouldn’t be hard for the Suns.
This turned out to be the case in Game 1 of the series. The Suns registered a comfortable victory behind an amazing performance by veteran point guard Chris Paul. At the end of regulation time, the scoreline stood at 110-99 in favor of the Suns.
Upon seeing this incredible victory, former NBA superstar-turned analyst Charles Barkley made a prediction about the Suns vs. Pelicans round 1 series. In the latest episode of ‘NBA on TNT’, Chuck said:
“Sometimes you got all these fools on television like listen. The Suns are gonna beat the Pelicans. … You always think that you have a chance to win, but I don’t care who wins. The Suns are going to whoop these boys, plain and simple. Guarantee.”
"The Suns gonna whoop these boys, plain and simple."
Chuck is GUARANTEEING Phoenix will advance past New Orleans 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/Zk0ShHdjCC
— TNT Sports U.S. (@TNTSportsUS) April 18, 2022
Like Chuck explained the Suns are simply better than their opponents in the first round of the playoffs. Of course, the Pelicans will give their very best in each game, but sometimes the gap between the two teams is too big to be bridged.
This seems to be the case in this series and that’s what we witnessed in Game 1 of the series. If it isn’t Chris Paul who explodes for an amazing performance, it will be Devin Booker next time, or Deandre Ayton. The Suns simply have a much better team than the Pelicans and they shouldn’t have any issues reaching the second round.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wj2TpNMwv-k
