On April 23, Beijing time, the NBA playoffs continued, with the Suns playing against the Pelicans. The Suns lost to Booker in the last game and lost to the Pelicans to make it 1-1 on aggregate. In the 3rd battle between the two sides, the Sun still has an advantage in strength, but it is not easy to play. In the end, the Suns won 114-111 on the road to give the Pelicans a 2-1 lead on aggregate.
In this game, the Suns put Johnson on the starting line. The Pelicans kicked in with a slash from Hayes, and the Suns didn't open a scoring account until 9:20. Ayton and Johnson then joined forces to make a 7-0 run, but the Pelicans immediately responded with a 7-0 run. Ayton hooked up + three-pointers to score seven straight points to lead the Suns back to the lead. The first quarter ended with the Pelicans leading 29-28.
In the second quarter, Graham hit two consecutive three-pointers to give the Pelicans a 35-28 lead, but the Suns then responded with a wave of 6-0. Paul steals McCollum, and Shamet, who is prominent in the quarter, quickly attacks and dunks, causing Hayes to foul and make it 2+1. Later, Hayes was expelled from the game on a second-degree malicious foul, and Claude was dealt with as a technical offender. At the end of the first half, the Suns led 59-48.
Back at halftime, McCollum's three-pointer blew the Pelicans' clarion call for a counteroffensive. Ayton's performance continued to be eye-catching, causing Valanciunas to foul and play 2+1, and the Suns led by 13 points at one point. But the Pelicans immediately went on a 12-0 run. Paul then assisted on Ayton's dunk and hit a layup himself, widening the point difference to six points, and the Suns led 81-79 at the end of the third quarter.
In the final quarter, Paul scored five points in a row with free throws and assisted Bridges' hit, and the two sides were still tied halfway through the battle. Paul then took over the game, hitting four consecutive shots to lead the team on a wave of 8-2, leading by five points. In the final moments, Crowder assisted Paul on a key shot. Although Ingram scored nine consecutive points in the last 40 or so seconds to force a continuation, the Suns relied on solid free throws to win the game 114-111.
On the scoring side, on the Suns side, Paul had 28 points and 14 assists, 19 of which came in the final quarter. Ayton had 28 points and 17 rebounds on 13-of-20 shooting, Bridges had 17 points, McGee had 15 points and Crowder had 10 points. On the Pelicans side, Ingram had 34 points and seven rebounds, McCollum had 30 points, four rebounds and seven assists, and Jones and Graham each had 12 points.
The Suns had a tough game and won the G3 through all the hardships. By the end of the first three quarters, Ayton had scored 28 points, while Paul had scored only nine. But at the end of the game, Ayton still had 28 points, and Paul also reached 28 points. In the final quarter, Paul scored 19 points and turned the tide with his mid-range shots again and again. In the whole game, Paul shot 10 of 18, mostly from the middle, and only 1 of 6 three-pointers. In addition to scoring, he has 14 assists to carry the Suns on his shoulders.
Statistics show that in the last two playoff games, Paul has delivered a total of 28 assists without a single mistake, creating a new historical record. Paul became the player who delivered the most assists in two consecutive playoff games in NBA history. The record holder before that was Jazz star John Stockton, who delivered 20 assists in the 2001 playoffs with 2 consecutive playoff errors.