On April 25, Beijing time, the league first turned over again, and the Series between the Sun and the Pelicans was tied 2-2. Paul magic no longer, the whole game, he shot 2 of 8, only 4 points, 11 assists, and 3 turnovers. According to statistics, only 4 points were scored in the whole game, and Paul had the lowest single-game score in his playoff career.
Booker's injury tilted the balance of the series, and what had been expected to be one-sided became evenly matched, and now the series has been dragged into The King's Mountain.
If Booker can't make a comeback in time and lose the Battle of Tianwang Mountain, the probability that the sun will be blackened is a high probability. And this game Paul lost and lost, the defensive action on the field caused American journalists and fans to complain madly.
In the fourth quarter of the game, Paul committed a vicious foul on Jones, hitting his opponent in the head with his arm and eating a first-degree malicious foul. Many fans think that the penalty is light, and the second-level malicious foul is directly expelled from the game. Interestingly, after that, Jones fell to the ground, and Paul tried to help him take the initiative to show his kindness, but was ignored by his opponent. Jones waited for his teammates to come and pull him before he got up, which made Paul on the side quite embarrassed, and he could only express helplessness with his hands crossed at the waist.
In this battle, Paul was indeed depressed. Four points tied the lowest single-game scoring record of his playoff career, and all of them were scored six minutes before the game, and in the next 42 minutes, he did not score a point on 0-of-6 shooting.
After the game, Paul praised Alvarado, "He's a good kid, a guy who plays really hard and is full of energy. Speaking about the physical confrontation in the game, Paul said, "It's like going back to the old-school NBA, isn't it?" ”
It is worth mentioning that both Paul and coach Monty Williams expressed dissatisfaction with the penalty after the game. Monti said, "Today's free throw ratio is 15 of us, they have 42, which is unimaginable in the playoffs. Paul also said that the Pelicans hit more free throws than the Suns' entire team, which is actually 32-15. The Suns made 10-of-15 free throws and the Pelicans made 32-of-42 free throws.