Friday nights in late April can mean one thing down in New Orleans: home playoff basketball for the Pelicans. Tonight’s Game 3 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals was one for the ages, as Deandre Ayton and Chris Paul combine for 56 points for Phoenix in a 114-111 win in the Smoothie King Center.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The first quarter was a back and forth affair, with both teams going on runs to fight for the lead. At the 6:30 mark of the 1st frame, New Orleans had just completed a 7-0 run to take a 12-10 lead, but Phoenix didn’t stay down. The Suns would go on a 9-4 run over the next two minutes to regain a 19-16 lead. A couple traded buckets later, the Suns held a 23-18 lead at the 3:38 mark, which prompted first-year Head Coach Willie Green to take a timeout. Over the final 3 and a half minutes of the quarter, the Pelicans would close the quarter on a 11-5 run to take a one point lead into the break, 29-28. For the Suns, Deandre Ayton led all scorers with 13 points on 6-7 shooting. Leader for New Orleans was Brandon Ingram, who had 9 points and 3 rebounds after 12 minutes.
The Pelicans would open the 2nd with back-to-back threes from Devonte Graham to push the score to 35-28, but the Suns would answer with 6 points of their own to make it a one point game yet again. At the 6:10 mark of the 2nd, Phoenix had a narrow 40-39 lead over the Pelicans in a game that was full of back and forth baskets and gritty basketball up to this point.
At the 5:13 mark, Jae Crowder and Jaxson Hayes got tied up and had to be separated by coaching staffs. The play was ruled a Flagrant 2 and Hayes was ejected from the game. From that moment on, the Suns would go on a 8-2 run over the next 2:45 to lead 51-45 with 2:28 left in the half. Phoenix would close the half out strong on a 8-3 run to take a 59-48 lead into the locker room.
The third would have the Suns jump out to a 66-53 advantage early on, but 10 straight points by New Orleans made it 66-63 with 7:30 left in the 3rd. Over the next four minutes, Ingram would score 4 of the Pelicans’ 9 points to make it 73-72 with 3:41 left before the final quarter break. The third quarter would end on a 8-7 Suns advantage to make it 81-79 at the break.
The fourth quarter would start off with points from McCollum and Nance, but Jose Alvarado would get the crowd going with a three to make it 86-84 with 9:45 remaining. Alvarado would go on to hit a big layup a few minutes later to make it 88-86 at the 8:33 mark. Jose would be a big difference early in the 4th, scoring 7 points in the opening half of the quarter to tie the game at 90 with 6:32 remaining.
Chris Paul was electric down the stretch of the 4th quarter, scoring 19 of his points in the final frame. He would lead the Suns to a 98-95 advantage at the 3:28 mark of the fourth and try to put this game out of reach and give Phoenix the 2-1 lead in the series. The Suns would do just that as they finish the final three minutes on a 9-7 run to take Game 3 114-111.
BIG NUMBER: 28
Deandre Ayton (28 pts, 17 rebs) and Chris Paul (28 pts, 14 ast) carried the Suns tonight to the Game 3 victory. Phoenix needed a performance from Ayton like this to fill the void left by Devin Booker’s injury.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Deandre Ayton
Ayton was phenenomal in the paint for the Suns tonight, scoring 28 points on 13-20 shooting. The University of Arizona product also had 17 rebounds in the victory.
UP NEXT:
The Suns (2-1) and the Pelicans (1-2) will meet in the Smoothie King Center on Sunday night for Game 4 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:30pm CT.