The Phoenix Suns defeat the Pelicans, displaying their dual personality.
Phoenix’s enormous potential was highlighted in the first half in a tale of two halves, but its season-long problems surfaced in the latter two quarters, making the finish much more dramatic than it needed to be. Devin Booker’s 52-point masterclass was a fortunate gift for the Suns. On three turnovers, he tallied nine assists as well.
Phoenix made a move at some time in January that essentially gave Bradley Beal, the team’s “point guard,” all the offensive control. A little-discussed part of this move was that it took it away from Booker, who was a better player and floor general and had to adjust how he would affect games going forward. This season, it has diminished more than usual, and that is one of the causes. Although he still had a good number of possessions while leading the offense, his effectiveness has been less constant than it was in previous years.
Booker continued to raise the ball on Monday, which gave him the much-needed boost after two lackluster outings.
After scoring 52 points in New Orleans in January, Booker scored 24 of his 52 points in the first quarter. It was another one of those clinic-style shots that he puts on show when nobody can stop him and it’s perplexing how every possession ends without him getting double-teamed.
Phoenix capitalized on his flow in that quarter, dishing out 12 assists and committing no turnovers, making 9 of 14 shots from 3-point range.
Before a breakdown occurred in the third quarter, the Suns had increased their lead to as high as 27 points in the first half. After how effectively Phoenix was handling the ball, their defense deteriorated dramatically, allowing 26 points in the paint after New Orleans scored only 24 points in the first half. The typical turnovers were a scare.
Although the Suns have melted down multiple times this season, their lead was reduced to only 13 points going into the fourth quarter. However, the Pelicans’ attempt to rally was exhausted, which gave the Suns enough momentum to settle in. They never really recovered, though, and they didn’t resemble the squad that scored 74 points in the first half.
The Suns gave New Orleans a second chance to rally after they missed 12 straight attempts. The Pelicans obliged, pulling away in seven, and Booker’s layup through contact put a stop to Phoenix’s run of scoring in double figures. Less than ninety seconds remained to seal the deal as Booker scored again on a drive to put Phoenix ahead nine. Phoenix finished the fourth quarter with just 21 points.
After tying his career best of six for the 27th time in his career, Booker set a new career high of eight threes. When he hit six and was attempting to knock down his seventh, he entered the night with an astounding 0-for-38 record. His second attempt failed on Monday after he missed the first. The trick was the fortyth time.
Phoenix limited Zion Williamson’s driving lanes by using New Orleans’ conventional centers, leaving him with little space and uncertainty about how to get in the teeth of the defense. All night long, the Pelicans’ spacing was terrible. Williamson was essentially nullified, which drastically altered their offensive output. He willed his way to 30 points, 20 of which came in the second half. He had no sense of when to attack or when to kick the ball out. One of the Suns’ more skillfully executed defensive strategies of the year was that one.
Jusuf Nurkic had a fantastic game on Monday, which was much-needed because he has been dealing with ailments for the past six weeks and hasn’t been able to return to his best play from the middle of the season. In the end, he had 19 points, 19 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks, a steal, and 1 turnover.
Beal finished with 13 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals, 3 turnovers, and 6 rebounds on 5 of 8 attempts. Reducing his involvement on the ball like he did on Monday might be the greatest short-term option to optimize Booker and Durant’s rhythm, with the long-term objective of the trio playing off one other more readily the next season.
That is the most crucial component of a Big 3 operating effectively, and they just haven’t had enough time or a cohesive enough atmosphere to figure it out. Jose Alvarado (right oblique strain) and Brandon Ingram (left knee bone contusion) were out of the lineup for New Orleans.
After defeating the Pelicans (45-30), the Suns (44-31) have the tiebreaker in the standings. On Sunday, they will play New Orleans once more, giving them another opportunity to catch up to the team they’ll probably need to seed for the play-in tournament if they want to move back up to the top six.
Phoenix finished 18 of 47 (38.3%) after making three baskets against New Orleans once more. When it gets to the league average of 35 3-point attempts, it is now 17-9.