Booker's injury added a great deal of uncertainty to the Suns. According to the Suns' official news, Devin Booker suffered a first-degree strain on the hamstring and is expected to miss 2-3 weeks. In other words, Booker has largely missed all of the first round of the playoffs. However, today the Suns still withstood the pressure, beating the Pelicans 114-111 on the road to rewrite the big score to 2-1 and regain the advantage of the series.
After Booker's injury, the Suns' playoff situation became very difficult. Booker, as the team's number one scorer, once absent for a long time, the impact on the Suns is very serious. So, after Booker's injury, the pelicans completed the Black Nine miracle on the gram, but today, the 37-year-old Chris Paul stabilized the military with his personal performance and helped the team win the most important game. In this game, Paul had 28 points, 4 rebounds and 14 assists, and 19 points in the fourth quarter, which was undoubtedly the first contributor to the Suns' victory. In the absence of the main player, the Suns showed the competitive temperament that a championship team should have, and DeAndre Ayton had a large double-double stat of 28 points and 17 rebounds, and as a champion, he took over Booker's offensive firepower. After winning this game, the Suns have completely stabilized the military.
Booker's absence, both in terms of team morale and team hard power, the Suns are on the back foot. If today's game continues to lose, then the Suns will basically lose the momentum to win, and this series will most likely lose suspense. Therefore, this game must be won by the Suns to preserve the possibility of lengthening the front. However, the opponent is the young Pelicans, and from this game, the Suns are still at a disadvantage. Although the Pelicans are only a team that ranks ninth in the West with 36 regular season wins, a huge gap with the Suns' 63 wins, the pelicans' overall strength is actually in the top five in the West. Since CJ McCollum joined the Pelicans, the Pelicans have become one of the most competitive teams in the West, except for the run-in period in the first three games after CJ's arrival, when CJ and Ingram played together, the Pelicans were 12-0. Although this sample is small, the ninth in the west is also a false coat for pelicans.
The turning point of today's game was a foul by the Pelicans in a second-degree malicious foul in which Pelicans forward Jason Hayes was ousted. This penalty directly caused the Pelicans to lose their dominance, and the Sun also reopened the point difference during this time, buying precious time for Paul's final quarter outburst. In the second quarter, Hayes used a rebound-grabbing over-excitement due to his emotional loss of control, pushing down Crowder, who was in the card slot, which in the usual game, the referee would not even pay too much attention. However, the referee watched the video replay and gave a shocking penalty – a second-degree malicious foul.
In this series, the Pelicans' strengths are their tall size and excellent rebounding ability. The physically gifted Hayes is the sun's biggest headache, and it is also a problem that the sun can't solve, and after expelling Hayes from the field, the Pelicans lost their advantage. Even after successfully recovering the point difference in the second half, the playoffs are changing rapidly, and the Pelicans have already lost the key point of victory. In addition, many of the referees today are biased, and it is clear that the Sun is the profitable side. This is also the key point for the sun to win.
What the Pelicans should pray for now is that the mentality of the young players will not be hit. If they can adjust in time, then they are still more dominant. Besides, the Suns must not forget that Zion has been given permission to fight. If Zion can play in this series, then the Suns' internal disadvantage will be more obvious. Previously, Zion had expressed a desire to play in the playoffs, and the Pelicans did not allow Zion to return for the sake of protecting Zion. If the Pelicans lose the next game again, the likelihood that the Pelicans will be on the life-and-death war faction will be greatly increased. At that point, whatever Zion's performance will be bad news for the Suns, as Zion is more predatory and threatening than Hayes.