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Andrew LopezESPN
NEW ORLEANS – For three-quarters of Friday night, things were going the way of the New Orleans Pelicans against the Phoenix Suns.
The Pelicans got an 11-point lead in the fourth quarter, and their offense sang to 102 points in the first 36 minutes. But the games last 48 minutes. And the final twelve were certainly the ones the Pelicans would like to forget soon.
The lead evaporated in four minutes. Back then, not even four minutes later, the Suns had double digits. When the final horn sounded, the Suns happily left the court with a 132-114 victory, while the Pelicans headed to their locker room stunned, trying to figure out what had just happened.
According to Elias Sports Bureau investigations, the 18-point defeat was the largest in the NBA in the clock era (since 1954-55) for a team that entered the fourth quarter with two digits.
So what happened?
“I saw Chris Paul take control of the basketball game,” Pelicans striker Brandon Ingram said.
Paul finished with 15 points and 19 assists and was over 28 in the fourth quarter, and didn’t even play 10 minutes. The veteran guard helped the Suns take control and never looked back.
“The man is orchestrating around here. He knows what’s going on on the ground even before it happens,” said Devin Booker, Suns guard. “With him, the game is never within reach. The game is never over until the horn sounds. He did a good job of guiding us, keeping calm throughout the game.
“In this fourth quarter, it’s a work of art. The way he distinguished his defense and made plays for others, and at the same time he scored when he had to.”
Apparently Paul was three steps ahead of everything the Pelicans wanted to do in the fourth quarter. His 3-point drop on the Pelicans guard, Lonzo Ball with 4:41 left, looked like the dagger to drive New Orleans away. He ran down the track again with his teammates chasing him while Pelicans coach Stan Van Gundy called for a timeout to try to save something in the final minutes.
However, contrary to what social media suggested at the time, Paul did not shout, “I own this site.”
“I said,‘ I know this place, I know this place, ’” said Paul, who played in New Orleans for the first six seasons of his career. “I know. Yes. I spent some of the best years of my life playing here in New Orleans.”
While the Suns were figuring out how to come out with the win, the Pelicans stayed trying to figure out how to let the game slip.
“Just being in the game, I think we don’t stop a little demoralized on offense,” Ball said. “Seeing them hit 3s back to back, we didn’t get any ball movement or good shots throughout the fourth quarter. Everything got worse.”
Aside from the triple rain that Phoenix sent to New Orleans, the Pelicans were also neglected with basketball. After making just seven rotations in the first three quarters, the Pelicans coughed it six times in the first six minutes, scoring 12 Phoenix points.
It’s a problem New Orleans has suffered this season. With Friday’s loss, New Orleans falls to 12-9 this season in games in which it has had a double-digit lead. This is the biggest loss after a double-digit win in the NBA this season, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.
“The thing is, when chaos passes, we have to figure out how to settle down,” Ingram said. “We need to be able to adjust during the game.
“Whatever the defensive scheme, whatever we want to do on the offensive to turn our team into the best team, that’s what we have to do. After those losses, it’s frustrating. We don’t have much to say. “Coaches don’t have much to say. Just look at the movie and try to be better tomorrow.”
Van Gundy said he doesn’t think his team’s problem is age.
“A lot of teams in this league have quarters like that,” Van Gundy said. “I’ll never throw the youth card around here. We’re a basketball team with very talented people and we didn’t get the job in the fourth quarter.”
However, he called it “a disastrous neighborhood.” And so it was. The minus-29-point differential was the largest for the Pelicans in any quarter of franchise history.
“In the end we were beaten with hay makers, then he made snowballs,” Van Gundy added.
Pelicans striker Zion Williamson said there is only one way to handle a loss like this.
“Really, for us it’s about learning from it,” the 20-year-old said. “Honestly, I think that’s the best thing we can do. Learn from it.”