Chris Paul # 3 of the Phoenix Suns shoots over Lonzo Ball # 2 of the New Orleans Pelicans during the fourth quarter of an NBA game at Smoothie King Center on February 19, 2021 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Phoenix Suns win game 132 – 114. (Photo by Sean Gardner / Getty Images)
‘Funky.’
This is how Phoenix Suns head coach Monty Williams described his team’s game through the quarterfinals in New Orleans against the Pelicans on Friday.
Thanks to a brilliant three-point shooting, the Suns were able to hang around, but they were 11 to three quarters. It felt like the locks were about to burst.
And they did.
But not exactly as you would expect.
The Suns won the game by 18 and a score of 132-114.
The sound you just heard was that the multiple people fell out of their seats and read that they, rightly, turned off this game by 36 minutes.
Yes, the same game ended with the Suns outscoring the Pelicans 41-12 in the fourth quarter.
It is clear what has changed. Why did it do that? Not so clear. I think it’s going to go like the sports sometimes.
Either way, the Suns were mostly lifeless on defense and made one of their weakest team attempts. They made 15 of their first 27 shots from deep (55.5%), and that was really all they held in it, except for a focused effort from Chris Paul.
At the start of the fourth quarter, an energetic start by Paul, Deandre Ayton and Jae Crowder gave a sign of life and a reminder that it was very much a game.
Paul was already locked up, so with the momentum of the game finally ready again, he grabbed it with relentless precision.
You know the part in a movie where people at sea try to survive a storm, and then there is a close-up on the protagonist with an astonishing look on their face: ‘My god …’ before u after a wave cut them as big as North Dakota?
It was the Pelicans in the first few minutes of the fourth see the Point God.
Paul’s bonkers ascent from the right wing was the early dagger. It raised the Suns halfway through the fourth and on a 27-5 run to open the quarter.
“It’s just being in situations like that over and over again … should get a chance,” Paul said. “So, step right, let it go.”
Paul said after the game, “I know this place,” with New Orleans being his home during four of his first six NBA seasons.
In the fourth quarter alone, Paul had five points and seven assists. He finishes with 15 points and 19 strokes. He became the first NBA player this season to beat at least 19 in a game.
“He’s orchestrating out there,” Suns guard Devin Booker said of Paul. “He knows what’s going on before it happens. With him, the game is never over before the horn sounds. He guided us well by keeping the whole game calm, and then that fourth quarter was a work of art. ”
Crowder was a staggering plus-30 in the fourth quarter, part of the game in which he hit four of his six three-pointers. He scored 20 points overall.
In the fourth year, Ayton again ended up in one of the zones where he influenced almost every play. We never know when we’ll see that guy, but when we do, it’s definitely a treat.
Ayton’s opening of three and a half minutes was the main reason why Paul was able to take over the game.
The pattern is never obvious when Ayton shows up like that. He does not play in this match. His good individual defense against Zion Williamson kept him from being a big negative point in three quarters.
Williams stuck with Ayton through a clear disconnect during Tuesday’s rough loss to the Brooklyn Nets, and was supposed to show his young center that he will continue to play through mistakes.
At some point on Friday, however, the gaffes in the third quarter feel it’s time for Ayton to sit down a bit and look elsewhere. And to be clear, that will be the case with most young players looking out of sync, and it’s not just a specific thing with just Ayton.
But Williams again remained loyal to the great fella, and it bore great fruit. Both the coach and especially the player deserve credit for that.
“He plays on both sides of the floor,” Williams said of Ayton. ‘Defensively he was certainly a star and in moments a star, but if he can put pressure on the edge and generate shots, Jae and Cam (Johnson) and Chris will not get the shots without DA putting pressure on the edge . It was to give up the 3 or DA on the edge, so that’s the sacrifice he makes when he dives to the basket. It’s just good for him to have those moments because I know it gives him confidence.
‘Everyone in our team is rooting for DA. They hear all the stories surrounding his name and we appreciate what he does for us on both sides of the floor. ‘
Ayton scored 16 points and 16 rebounds.
Speaking of that defense against Williamson, Frank Kaminsky had the starting lineup for the Suns again. Kaminsky could take the big body of Willy Hernangomez, who started in place of the injured Steven Adams, while Ayton defended Williamson.
Kaminsky once again played well, scoring five tries at a 17-point period.
E’Twaun Moore had another good stretch off the bench and added seven points. Johnson provided 13 more and played a role in the fourth quarter of Destruction.
The Suns (18-10) set a franchise record with 22 tries.
Williamson finished with 23 points while the Pelicans (12-17)’s Brandon Ingram had 25. These two constantly caused problems that plagued Phoenix for most of the game. Williams said he adjusted a few things to limit Ingram in the fourth, but he once again gave the honor of giving his players ‘the will and effort’ to execute it at such a high level.
“It’s the resilience and the relentless game we have to talk about,” Williams said of the victory overall. ‘It almost did not go our way the whole game. You could just feel like it was a little funky. ‘