On February 26, Beijing time, the NBA arena was born a big cold! The league's first sun lost to the 4th-to-last Pelicans in the West 102-117 at home, ending their eight-game winning streak. Without Paul, the sun was like a scattered sand. In particular, in the third quarter, the Suns scored 42 points in a single quarter by their opponents, and finally suffered a 15-point defeat at home. Although it was a back-to-back battle, being beaten like this by the pelicans really made people feel the importance of Paul.
In the first quarter, the Pelicans hit a 10-2 run in the final quarter to take a nine-point lead into the second quarter. In the second quarter, the Suns counterattacked, chasing the gap to only 3 points in the half. However, in the third quarter, Ingram scored 13 points in a single quarter, leading the team to a 42-31 single-quarter score. In the last quarter, the Sun was powerless to return to the sky, and finally could only swallow the bitter fruit of the defeat at home, and the 8-game winning streak was also tragically ended.
Throughout the game, McCollum blasted down 32 points, 6 boards and 4 assists, continuing the outstanding performance after joining the team. Ingram 28 points. In contrast, the Suns, although Booker scored 30 points and 5 assists, but made 4 mistakes. Moreover, Booker's presence plus-minus was embarrassing -21 the worst in the game, and Booker also lost and left the game after the game! Without Paul, Booker's ability to lead the team alone is still very low. The Suns, too, lost their league-first style.
For the Suns, they also had to deal with a long period of Paul's absence. Previously, Paul had a fractured finger and was expected to rest for 4-6 weeks. And this period of time was originally a good opportunity to test the ability of Booker and Ayton to lead the team. Unfortunately, in the second game after the All-Star, the sun was revealed.
Of course, the Pelicans are currently under the leadership of McCollum and Ingram, and they are also in a period of high morale, and they are no longer weak brigades. After the game, coach Monti Williams also decompressed the team: "We were a bit inadequate and unstable for their quick counter-attacks. We know it would be tough without Paul, Payne and Holliday. ”