The Suns play the Pelicans on the road
Once again, Chris Paul was tricked by fate, with the Suns' top scorer Booker suffering a hamstring strain and missing at least two weeks, meaning the Suns had to hold out until the Western Conference semifinals without Booker. But the Pelicans in the first round of the playoffs caused them trouble. The combination of CJ and Ingram is, in a sense, a bankrupt version of the Nets double, in other words, a low-end version of Irving and Durant. However, even the low-end version is also competitive.
The Suns are already in a tough situation, this team only has a stable scoring point for Booker, and now that Booker is injured, they can only rely on Chris Paul, but Paul is 36 years old after all, and you can't expect him to carry the team all the time. Ayton struggled against Varan, but if the Suns wanted to win the series, Ayton's play was crucial.
Hayes was deported
In Game 3 of the series, home to the New Orleans Pelicans, in Booker's absence, Monty chose to have Cameron Johnson in the starting lineup, a 2.03-meter forward with decent three-point ability. At the beginning of the first quarter, Paul took the lead in attacking, scoring 5 points on 2-of-3 shooting, and then delivered 5 assists, Ayton lived up to expectations, 13 points and 4 rebounds on 6-of-7 shooting, and 1 steal and 1 block, Cameron Johnson and McGee on the bench, both 5 points and 1 rebound, and the Suns scored 28 points in a single quarter.
The Pelicans still showed their resilience, With Ingram scoring 9 points, 3 rebounds and 1 assist on 3-of-7 shooting, McCollum also had 7 points, 2 assists and 1 steal, Graham on the bench had 5 points, 2 rebounds and 1 assist, and the team scored 29 points in a single quarter, slightly gaining the upper hand. After returning from the second quarter, Paul kept giving McGee assists on the court, but Graham hit three consecutive three-pointers, and the two teams came and went, and the scores alternated between the leads, which was comparable, but the turning point of the game soon arrived.
Hayes knocked over Crowder, and then the two almost clashed, and after the referee reviewed the video, he directly gave Hayes a second-degree malicious foul and expelled him. The Suns then hit a 16-5 spurt to lead the Pelicans by 11 points at the end of the half.
Ayton carried the Suns
Once again, São Paulo has shown the strength of a traditional point guard, which is to constantly mobilize the team's big center. Ayton carried the team, 10 of 14 shots to get 21 points, 7 rebounds and 1 assist, and 2 steals and 1 block, I have to say that such Ayton, indeed worth a maximum salary contract, usually do not shoot, just because it is not needed, not without this strength. McGee shot 4-of-4 and also had 9 points and 1 rebound, while Paul had 7 points, 1 rebound and 8 assists, without a single mistake, and a good tandem with the team's offense.
After Hayes was ousted, the Pelicans didn't seem to be able to play. McCollum had 12 points, 3 assists and 2 steals and only shot 4 of 12 from the field, while Ingram had 13 points, 5 rebounds and 1 assist, and the shooting rate was not high, shooting 4-of-10. Graham on the bench became a Wizard, hitting 3 three-pointers, 11 points, 5 rebounds and 1 assist, Varan faced the tough Ayton, really helpless, only 4 points and 5 rebounds on 1-of-5 shooting, and Nance Jr. did not score a point on 0-of-3 shooting.