Phoenix Suns’ consistent offense wears down Pelicans in road win
Mar 15, 2022, 8:39 PM | Updated: 10:10 pm
It wasn’t parading through New Orleans on Tuesday night with flawless execution but the Phoenix Suns’ pep in their step wore down the Pelicans to a 131-115 final.
The Suns scored at least 30 points in all four quarters, shot 18-for-34 (52.9%) from three-point range and had 35 assists with only eight turnovers.
The offensive performance was a constant force to push back various rallies by the Pelicans that were made easier by the fact that Phoenix embraced an open-court game and allowed 29 second-chance points off 13 offensive rebounds.
The Suns (55-14), however, kept on scoring at a high level, tallied 33 points off New Orleans’ (28-41) 17 turnovers in that open environment and tightened things up enough at the right time.
A 14-7 run in the last 4:20 of the third quarter extended a six-point lead to 13. With the way the game had been going, it felt like another counter shot was going to come from New Orleans but an 11-5 opening to the final frame led by JaVale McGee and the reserves revealed the Pelicans didn’t have anything left.
“The ability to play in 0.5 and paint to great, that’s who we are,” head coach Monty Williams said. “I thought when the ball, as we say, let the offense breathe. When we let it breathe and we moved it around, it was a much more efficient game for us.”
It was the latest win on a season-long revenge tour for the Suns, blowing New Orleans out after they lost 117-102 in Phoenix on Feb. 25. They are now 6-1 when they play a team for the first time since losing to them. The average margin of victory is 16.3 points.
“We owe ’em. That’s exactly what we say amongst each other is we owe them,” guard Devin Booker said. “Especially the way they came on our home court and did us bad. There’s a lot of talented players over there, really talented group. We wanted this one bad.”
A few of Phoenix’s 14 losses can’t be made up for yet, like teams out east it only plays twice, but the Suns have got the Utah Jazz, Memphis Grizzlies and Golden State Warriors (the 1 in 6-1) in a few weeks before the regular season wraps.
Booker notched a game-high 27 points on 11-of-20 shooting, with all 27 of those points coming outside of the paint on one of those evenings where the degree of difficulty on his shots didn’t matter much.
He added eight assists and two steals.
Cam Payne passed around eight assists of his own, plus 14 points and three steals. Mikal Bridges contributed 20 points while Deandre Ayton had 18. All three have taken major strides in their games the last couple of weeks.
Payne’s up to 77 assists and only 19 turnovers in his eight games filling in for Chris Paul (right thumb avulsion fracture). Bridges is now averaging over 18 points per game since late January, a sample size of over 20 games that suggests he has taken a notable leap as an offensive player. Ayton, meanwhile, is at 21.2 points per game in the six games Phoenix has been without Paul and Cam Johnson (right quad contusion).
McGee racked up 19 of the Suns’ 43 bench points.
