Chris Paul # 3 of the Phoenix Suns shoots on Lonzo Ball # 2 of the New Orleans Pelicans during the fourth quarter of an NBA game at the Smoothie King Center on February 19, 2021 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Phoenix Suns wins the game 132-114. (Photo by Sean Gardner / Getty Images)
“Funky”.
That’s how Phoenix Suns head coach Monty Williams described his team’s three-quarter game in New Orleans Friday against the Pelicans.
Thanks to some three-point stellar shots, the Suns were able to stay, but fell from 11 to three-quarters. It looked like the floodgates were about to explode.
And, uh, they did.
But not exactly the way you would have expected.
The Suns won the game by 18 and a score of 132-114.
That sound you just heard was the people who fell off the chair reading that person who rightly turned off this game for 36 minutes.
Yes, that same game ended with the Suns beating the Pelicans 41-12 in the fourth quarter.
It is clear what changed. Why did he do it? Not so clear. I guess that’s how they do sports sometimes.
Still, the Suns were mostly lifeless on defense, which was one of their worst team efforts. They made 15 of their first 27 shots from the bottom (55.5%) and that was really all that kept them out, outside of an effort centered by Chris Paul.
Then, at the start of the fourth quarter, an energized exit from Paul, Deandre Ayton and Jae Crowder provided signs of life and reminded me that it was very much a game.
Paul was already closed, so with the momentum of the game, he finally grabbed it again, snatching it away with relentless precision.
You know that part of a movie where there are people at sea trying to survive through a storm, and then there’s a close-up of the main protagonist with a stunned look that says, “My God …” before cutting a wave that reaches the size of North Dakota?
These were the pelicans in the first two minutes of the quarter seeing the God of the Point.
The attraction of Paul’s bonkers from the right wing was the early dagger. He placed the Suns 11 in the middle of the quarter and with a 27-5 run to open the quarter.
“That’s being in these situations over and over again … you have to shoot,” Paul said. “So take a side step to the right, let it roll.”
Paul clarified after the game that he said, “I know this place,” with New Orleans serving as his home during his first six NBA seasons.
In the fourth quarter alone, Paul had five points and seven assists. He finished with 15 points and 19 assists. He became the first NBA player this season to score a minimum of 19 in a game.
“He’s orchestrating around here,” said Devin Booker, Suns guard over Paul. “He knows what happens even before it happens. With him, the game is never over until the horn sounds. He did a good job directing us, keeping calm throughout the game, and then that fourth quarter was a work of art.
Crowder was an impressive plus-30 in the fourth quarter, a section of the game in which he hit four of his six triples. He scored 20 points overall.
In that quarter, Ayton re-entered one of those areas where he was impacting almost every play. We never know when we’re going to see this guy, but when we do, it’s sure to be a gift.
Ayton’s three-and-a-half minute opening was the main reason Paul was in a position to take the game.
The pattern is never obvious as to when Ayton appears like this. I wasn’t shooting in this game. His good individual defense against Zion Williamson kept him from being a big negative overall for three quarters.
Williams stayed with Ayton through a clear disconnected effort during Tuesday’s tough loss against the Brooklyn Nets, supposedly to prove to his young center that he will continue to play by mistake.
On Friday, at one point, however, the third-quarter blunders seemed like it might be time to sit Ayton down a bit and look elsewhere. And, to be clear, that would be the case for most young players who weren’t in sync, and it’s not just something specific with just Ayton.
But Williams regained his loyalty to the big boy, and it bore great fruit. Both the coach and, above all, the player deserve it.
“He plays at both ends of the floor,” Williams said of Ayton. “Defensively, he was safe and he was a star at times, but when he’s able to put pressure on the edge and generate shots, Jae and Cam (Johnson) and Chris don’t get those shots without DA putting pressure on the edge. It was giving up the 3rd or DA on the edge, so that’s the sacrifice he makes when he dives into the basket – it’s good that he has those moments because I know it gives him confidence.
“Everyone on our team is rooted in DA. They listen to all the stories around his name and we value what he does for us at both ends of the floor. “
Ayton recorded 16 points and 16 rebounds.
Speaking of this defense against Williamson, that confrontation caused Frank Kaminsky to be part of the Suns’ starting lineup again. Kaminsky could take the large body of Willy Hernangomez, who started instead of the injured Steven Adams, while Ayton defended Williamson.
Kaminsky played well again, scoring five triples to the season’s 17-point high.
E’Twaun Moore had another good stretch off the bench, adding seven points. Johnson provided 13 more and played a role in this fourth quarter of destruction.
The Suns (18-10) tied a franchise record with 22 triples.
Williamson finished with 23 points, while the Pelicans (12-17) Brandon Ingram had 25. These two caused consistent problems that affected Phoenix for most of the game. Williams said he modified a few things to limit Ingram to the fourth, but once again hurried to prove his players had the “will and effort” to execute him at such a high level.
“That’s the resilience and the relentless play we’ve talked about that we have to have,” Williams said of the overall victory. “Almost the whole game didn’t go our way. It felt like it was a little fun. “