On April 18, Beijing time, today, the Suns had a thrilling, beating the Pelicans 110-99 to achieve a playoff start. In terms of strength, the Strength of the Suns is far above the opponent, and this is exactly the case, the Pelicans are nearly 20 points behind the opponent before the end of the third quarter. However, from the second half of the third quarter to the first half of the fourth quarter, the Pelicans players were like chicken blood, and during the Suns' three core rest, CJ continued to win in the mid-range, and Nance gave and demanded, frequently impacting the inside line, and the Suns were caught off guard.
Coach Monty can only send Paul back to the court early, after Paul came on the court, the effect was immediate, he first hit 2 goals, and then hit the top three points of the arc, CJ did not hesitate to let go, but also returned a three-pointer, but Paul is the god of point guards after all, he assisted McGee to complete the dunk, and then cut three points in the same position, followed by Paul suddenly cast a cold arrow, three points through Yang, just one round, Paul forced the basket to win again, the Pelicans were directly stopped, it turned out that Paul's performance was not over.
After the timeout came back, Paul used the final move, the right mid-range again hit the defender, and soon after, he teamed up with Bridges to score 4 points, during this time, Paul alone cut 17 points in a row, bulletless, the state is very brave, due to the widening of the point difference, Paul played the role of the sea god needle, gradually stabilized the rhythm, the Pelicans were beaten by Paul, and finally had to surrender. Paul scored 19 points in the fourth quarter, 12-of-16, 4-of-6 three-pointers, 30 points, 7 rebounds, 10 assists and 3 steals, only 2 turnovers, plus-minus +20 crowns.
Paul had a chance to win a triple-double in the third quarter of 11+7+8, but the Pelicans kept scoring, and he could only help the team by scoring points again and again, and the final quarter turned on scoring mode and did not pass much. The outstanding performance also allowed him to set three major records, the first record, Paul's total number of career steals in the playoffs reached 259, surpassing Carl Malone (258) to 15th in history; the second record, Paul scored 19 points in a single quarter, setting a personal record for the highest single quarter score in a single quarter. In the third record, Paul surpassed Nash at 36 years and 347 days to score 30 points and 10 assists for the oldest player in playoff history.
I have to say that today's Paul is incomprehensible, as if Jordan is possessed, and no one can prevent it. Ayton performed well in this game, 10 of 15, light 21 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists and 4 blocks, almost injured in the last quarter; Paul's explosive state also allowed Varan to join the empty cut group, this campaign, Varan did not feel good, 7 of 21, but bombed 18 points, 25 rebounds and 3 assists. In this game, the Pelicans have 20 more rebounds than the Suns and still lose, which is enough to prove the strength of the Suns and Paul. However, for the Suns, the next game must be protected by rebounds, and it is not easy to win this series easily.