The Suns today won 112-97 at home to win the Battle of Tenno mountain, and the series score came to 3-2, and one more win will eliminate the Pelicans.
Booker continued to be absent due to injury, Paul had a poor last game, scoring only four points in the game, but he adjusted again today and played a very powerful performance, shooting 8-of-18 from the field, with 22 points, 6 rebounds, 10 assists and 3 steals.
It is worth mentioning that so far in the playoffs this season, Paul has reached double digits in every game, and is the only player in the league to give at least 10 assists per game. In the first four games, Paul has had 10 assists, 14, 14 and 11 assists. Paul, meanwhile, made just six turnovers, averaging 12 assists per game, with only 1.2 turnovers, and a 12-assist-to-turnover ratio. Aside from Paul, only Morant is currently averaging assists in double figures in the playoffs this season.
Today's game is also the 50th time in Paul's career playoffs that he has scored at least 10 points and 10 assists in a single game, surpassing James and rising to fourth in history, behind the Magicians (137 times), Stockton (87 times), Nash (51 times), and in the next game, Paul is expected to tie Nash.
In addition, this is also the 31st time in Paul's career playoffs that he has had at least 20 points and 10 assists in a single game, surpassing Suns star Kevin Johnson (30 times) and rising to third in history, the top two being Magic Johnson (60 times) and James (43 times).
In the playoffs this season, Paul averaged 20 points and 12 assists per game, which is already very rare for a 37-year-old veteran, although Paul's form is not stable enough. Under Paul's leadership, even if Booker is injured, the Sun should be able to reject Black Eight.
Bridges was also a winner today, playing 46 minutes, shooting 12-of-17, including 4-of-4 three-pointers and 3-of-3 free throws, with 31 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 4 blocks, becoming the first player in Suns history to score 30 points in a single game in the playoffs and shoot at least 4 three-pointers to reach 100% shooting.
Bridges also became the seventh player in league history to score at least 30 points, four blocks, and four three-pointers in a single playoff game, after james, Durant, Leonard, Bryant, Nowitzki and Carter, all of whom were superstar-level players.
Ayton shot 8-of-13 from the field today and had 19 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists.
On the Pelicans side, Ingram and McCollum didn't do well, with only 2-of-13 from three-point range. Ingram played 40 minutes and shot 7-of-19, including 1-of-5 from three-point range and 7-of-11 from the free throw line, with 22 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists, ending three consecutive games with 30+. McCollum shot 7-of-22 from the field, including 1-of-8 from three-point range, and had 21 points, eight rebounds, five assists and two blocks.