Trey Murphy III says Pelicans have best home-court advantage

Trey Murphy III believes the New Orleans Pelicans have the best home-court advantage in the NBA. Twenty-nine games into the 2022-23 season, the Western Conference contender is 12-3 at home and 18-11 overall.

“I feel like we have the best homecourt advantage in the entire league, because our fans are just rambunctious,” says Murphy. “It helps us, and we feed off their energy. It’s a whole lot of fun playing in Smoothie King Center.”

A few NBA betting sites are giving the Pelicans the ninth-best odds to win the championship in 2023. Some sportsbooks are showing better odds for the Memphis Grizzlies and Phoenix Suns.

Trey Murphy on #Pelicans playing in @SmoothieKingCtr: "I feel like we have the best homecourt advantage in the entire league, because our fans are just rambunctious. It helps us and we feed off their energy. It’s a whole lot of fun playing in SKC.”

— Jim Eichenhofer (@Jim_Eichenhofer) December 19, 2022

Furthermore, the Grizzlies are 13-2 at home this season, and the Suns are 13-3 at home as well. Those two teams are arguably their largest threats in the West. Of course, the Golden State Warriors are 12-2 at home right now, but the Dubs are 15-16 and rank 11th in the conference. Without Stephen Curry, the Warriors are even worse.

Through 27 appearances this season, Trey Murphy is averaging career highs of 12.2 points, 4.3 rebounds, 1.4 assists, and 1.1 steals per game in his second year in the NBA. He’s also shooting 45.5% from the floor and 39.5% from 3-point range.

Trey Murphy III claims Pelicans have the best home-court advantage in the NBA

On Nov. 30, in Pelicans’ 126-108 win over the Toronto Raptors, Murphy ended his performance with a season-high 26 points in 38 minutes played. He finished 8-of-17 (47.1%) shooting from the field and 6-of-12 (50%) beyond the arc.

Plus, the team scored a franchise-record 149 points in its 2017-18 season home opener.

In New Orleans’ 128-117 win versus the Suns on Dec. 9, excited fans at Smoothie King Center were eager to celebrate Zion Williamson’s 360 dunk during garbage time in the closing seconds of the fourth quarter.

A "Chris Paul sucks" chant breaks out at the Pelicans-Suns game 🗣️pic.twitter.com/tcuXZoM6FZ

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) December 11, 2022

While Suns players thought it was an unsportsmanlike play, Pelicans fans were entertained. At the end of the day, if the fans are happy, players will have their support more often than not. This is why Trey Murphy has a point on his home-court advantage claim.

Additionally, the Pelicans will be tested on Monday night against the Milwaukee Bucks. They are 14-3 at home, 7-5 away, and 21-8 overall in the Eastern Conference.

For notable betting trends, New Orleans is also 7-0 in its last seven home games. And the point total has gone over in six of the team’s past seven matchups at home versus the Bucks.