The NBA playoffs first round of G2 scrambling continued, with the Suns, the no. 1 in the regular season league, sitting at home against the Pelicans, who were lucky enough to finish eighth in the West through a playoff.
In the first game, the Suns showed absolute dominance, and in the case of the rebounding in the interior line was grabbed by Varan, they still won an 11-point victory, winning the series opening and rewriting the big score to 1-0.
But in the G1 showdown, it also gave the Pelicans the hope of upsetting, because the team's internal line occupies an absolute advantage, if it is not CJ in the key moments of successive missed opportunities, the team G1 has a good chance to upset.
As soon as the game began, Ingram hit two points to top the Pelicans on the road.
Booker also responded quickly to help the Suns establish an early lead, but the Pelicans still dominated the inside line, coupled with Ingram and CJ feel online, the Pelicans completed the rebound in the middle of the section, even if Booker hit consecutive hits at the end of the quarter, the Pelicans still ended the first quarter with a 2-point lead.
In the second quarter, the Pelicans maintained a weak lead in the first half, but in the second half of the storm, Booker suddenly entered the form, and the half-time blasted 31 points to help the team enter the half-time with a 5-point lead.
The Suns still maintained a slim lead, but the Pelicans also clung to the score and waited for an opportunity until Booker suddenly got injured and was replaced because of hamstring tension, and the Pelicans began to fight back.
Under Ingram's leadership, the Pelicans completely suppressed the Suns in the second half of the third quarter, and the Pelicans, who played on the road, instead took a seven-point lead.
Entering the final quarter of the scramble, the Suns once quickly completed the score reversal after the return of the main players, but the Pelicans have entered the state, Ingram can not be stopped on the offensive end, and finally the Suns, which lackEd Booker, lost to the Pelicans 114-125, staged the biggest upset so far in the first round.
Throughout the game, the Suns had an absolute advantage in the first two and a half quarters because Booker's form was too hot.
Booker played 24 minutes, shooting 12-of-19 and 7-of-11 from three-point range, and without a free throw, bombed down 31 points, 2 rebounds and 1 assist.
This made Booker the first player in history to score at least 30+ points at halftime and shoot at least seven three-pointers without penalties after the 1996-97 season officially counted each quarter.
He is also the first player in history to score at least 30+ at halftime without free throws, and the second time in his career that he has scored at least 30+ at halftime, the first in Suns history.
Unfortunately, after Booker went off, the rest of the Suns players failed to hold the victory, Paul shot 5 of 16, had 17 points and 14 assists, and failed to support the team's attack at a critical moment.
Ayton was completely suppressed, with only 10 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists, in addition, only two people scored in double figures, Bridges 19 points and 6 rebounds and Johnson 11 points and 4 rebounds.
On the other hand, the Pelicans continued their advantage in the first game, grabbing 43 rebounds, 10 more than the Suns, which is also the key to the Pelicans' collapse when Booker stormed in the first half.
Among them, Varan contributed to it, grabbing 13 rebounds again and scoring 10 points at the same time, and Nance Jr. also became the key to cracking the Suns' defense, with 13 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists.
More importantly, Ingram did not waste any more opportunities, and stood up at key moments, bombarding a quasi-triple-double of 37 points, 11 rebounds and 9 assists.
CJ, who made a series of mistakes in the last game, also stood up in this game, with 23 points, 8 rebounds and 9 assists.
In addition, Jones became a Wizard, shooting 2 of 3 from three points and scoring 14 points, and the pelicans' outside feel was the key to the team's upset in this game.
The Pelicans shot 17-of-30 from three-point range, shooting 56.7 percent, 2 percentage points higher than the overall team shooting percentage, which completely disrupted the Suns' defensive strategy, allowing the Pelicans to return home with a 1-1 score, and Booker's injury aggravated, and the pressure on the League's No. 1 Suns to advance surged.