The NBA regular season continued, with the Pelicans, ranked 12th in the West, beating the league's No. 1 Suns 117-102 on the road to end a two-game losing streak that ended the Suns' eight-game winning streak. In this game, the Pelicans' CJ and Ingram performed well, and they played very efficient offensive performances on the court, which helped the team a lot. CJ had 32 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists, while Ingram contributed 28 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists, and the two core players combined to score 60 points, and they also became the biggest contributor to the Pelicans' victory in this game. The Suns' Booker scored 30 points in the game, and in Paul's absence, he failed to help the team win the game when he scored high points, and the Suns ended their 8-game winning streak at home.
In this game, the Suns were completely suppressed by the Pelicans, and in the first quarter, the Suns were not offensively efficient, they only scored 22 points in a single quarter, while the Pelicans scored 31 points, and the single quarter net victory over the opponent by 9 points, the advantage was obvious. In the second quarter, the Suns, led by Booker, successfully narrowed the point gap, they recovered 6 points in a single quarter, and at the end of the half, the Suns were only 3 points behind the Pelicans.
However, in the third quarter, the Suns' defense problems could not limit the play of the Pelicans' two top scorers, CJ and Ingram, and in the single quarter, the Suns let the two players score 20 points, the single quarter team lost 42 points, and at the end of the third quarter, the Suns were 14 points behind the Pelicans.
In the final quarter, the Suns wanted to close the point gap, but the Pelicans did not give the Suns much of a chance, they always took the initiative in the game, and in many ways they performed better than the Suns. After the Suns did not have a good effect in chasing points, they also replaced the main players, and the game entered the training time. In the end, the Suns lost to the Pelicans at home and lost to their own winning streak.
Before this game, the Pelicans' performance was not ideal, after CJ joined the team, although the strength has been improved, but the team as a whole has not played well, the team's record is less than the loss, the ranking has also declined. And this game is the best performance of the Pelicans since CJ joined the team. In the face of the League No. 1 Suns, the Pelicans played well overall, CJ continued to maintain a fiery performance on the offensive end, and Ingram also ushered in an outbreak, the two players combined to score 60 points, played a very good performance, and Varan also had a double-double of 18 points and 17 rebounds, many players on the team scored in double figures, and when facing the Suns without Paul, the Pelicans successfully seized the opportunity and won a big win on the road, ending their losing streak.
Now for the Suns, they are in trouble because Paul will be absent for a long time, and the team lacks a core defender and a player who can help the team win in key moments, which has a big impact on the team. In this case, Booker as the core of the team, he needs to have a better performance, this game he shot 10 of 24, 8 of 8 three-pointers, although the whole game scored 30 points, but his shooting efficiency is not high. The other players didn't help Booker much either, and the whole team didn't play without Paul. For the Suns, the whole team needs to perform better if they want to stabilize their No. 1 position in the league during Paul's absence, and if they continue to do so in this game, the Suns may lose more games.