The match starts with very high offensive standards. Between Devin Booker and Kevin Durant who already hit two entry 3-pointers, and CJ McCollum and Trey Murphy who manage to respond to them, we don't waste time on presentations… When Durant goes on the counter-attack for a solo dunk , the Suns are starting to pull away, +13. Grayson Allen added a dunk, while Booker really caught fire in the first quarter. The Suns star rises to 24 units, all at 8/10 on shots including 5/7 at 3-points! Opposite, the Pelicans arrive staggeringly at 28 points with 9 different players (46-28).
In full offensive success in the first quarter, with 67% shooting success including 9/14 behind the arc, the Suns continued their march forward in the second. In any case, Booker retains the hot hand. He adds 13 units to his total, to reach 37 points at the break, at a very clean 14/18 on shots. The Suns happily reach +20 on the scoreboard, while Nurkic also goes there with his long-distance shot. Well held in defense, Zion Williamson puts his nose to the window but NOLA has its work cut out for it at halftime (74-54).
Booker in meltdown
Ravaged by the Booker flamethrower, New Orleans nevertheless continued its race against time upon returning from the locker room. Williamson and Murphy scored half of the points for their team which managed to eat up its deficit, going from -26 to -13 thanks to a fierce 20-8 (103-90). If Booker continues to collect points and is now at 48 points, plus 8 assists, his Suns are no longer as brilliant offensively, like Phoenix's 4/12 3-pointers in the 3rd quarter. Above all, the Suns shot themselves several times in the foot with 6 lost balls which led to 10 easy points on the counterattack for the Pels.
Williamson started well in his match, the Pels still believe in an improbable comeback. It must be said that Zion punishes, action after action, each of the Phoenix defenders who believe they can hold him in the low post. The awakening is a little late for New Orleans, which sees Phoenix respond to each opposing incursion. Coming back to -7 twice under two minutes, the Pelicans will be pushed back again by Booker, who wins the layup twice. And when he is taken by two, by Bradley Beal who plants the fatal 3-pointer (124-111).
WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER
– Booker's Jewel. Almost a local to the stage, he who grew up not far from there in the neighboring state of Mississippi, Devin Booker struck hard again in New Orleans. In front of around fifty relatives and friends who had made the trip, the Suns star once again pulled out all the stops, with a peak of 52 units, only his third best offensive performance of the season, and that's is the fifth time in his career that he has passed the fifty-year mark. Better, this is his third game in a row with 50 points or more against the Pelicans, enough to make him join an ultra exclusive group with Wilt Chamberlain. “What is most impressive and what shows that he is a scorer of a higher dimension”comments Durant, “he managed to score his points while staying in the rhythm of our attack! “.
– An important victory for Phoenix. After their narrow setback against San Antonio, then another clearer one against OKC, the Suns absolutely had to raise the bar against a direct competitor. It's done with this success which brings Phoenix within a match of New Orleans for this famous 6th place which allows us to avoid the fears of “play in”. Above all, Phoenix now has the “tie-breaker” in its series against NOLA, knowing that the two teams meet again this weekend…
– The Pelicans wake up too late. Like Zion Williamson, who scored 20 of his 30 points in the second half, the Pelicans were knocked out from the start by the Suns (the “one two punch” Booker – Durant in this case) and They took a little (too) long to regain their actions and their cruising speed. Still deprived of Brandon Ingram, the NOLA back line had a lot of difficulty responding, with CJ McCollum finishing at 6/17 in particular.
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How to read the stats? Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; O = offensive rebound; D=defensive rebound; T = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; +/- = Point differential when the player is on the field; Pts = Points; Eval: player evaluation calculated from positive actions – negative actions.
