On April 27, Beijing time, the first round of the playoffs suns vs. pelicans ushered in the fifth battle of Tianwangshan, and the team that won the match point will have a better chance to enter the next round, and This game Booker will continue to be absent due to injury. Both teams had played two games at their respective home games, and with ingram and Varland's excellent play, the Pelicans stubbornly tied the score to 2-2, which was supposed to be a series without suspense, and the Pelicans saw hope due to Booker's injury. And G5, the battle of King Mountain, also won the match point due to the excellent play of Paul and Bridges.
Paul also set two records, the 31st playoff game at least 20 points and 10 assists, surpassing Kevin Johnson (30 times) to rise to third all-time, the first two are Magic Johnson (60 times) and James (43 times), the playoffs single game with at least 10 points and 10 assists to 50 times, surpassing James to rise to fourth in history, as follows: 1, Magic 137 times 2, Stockton 87 times 3, Nash 51 times 4, Paul 50 times 5, James 49 times. Fans had to chant "god of point guards," and Paul was the only player this season to have a double-doubles assist per game.
After the last slump, Paul found his form in this game, shooting 8-of-18 from the field, scoring 22 points, 6 rebounds, 11 assists and 3 steals, while only making one turnover. Paul's horrible state is that he can not only attack on his own but also connect his teammates, so that the Pelicans are invincible. It has to be said that paul and Booker are very important to the Sun, and if Booker is not injured, they may already be waiting for the next round of opponents. Also today the Suns Bridges also played well, the whole game cut 31 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 4 blocks, and Bridges' defense is more important, according to statistics, when facing Bridges defense, the Pelicans shot 3 of 17 shots and scored only 7 points, the specific data is: CJ9 1 scored 3 points, Ingram 5 1 scored 2 points, Varland 1 scored 2 points, Graham 2 points in 1, Graham 2 of 0, people marvel at this 3D is really strong.
After the last game caused Paul's 8-second violation, Alvarado caused another 8-second violation in this game, and said in an interview that he had long wanted to steal Paul, perhaps it was this fierceness and confidence that made him not afraid of the other party is a famous star. From Alvarado, you can see that even the second-round show can get opportunities through hard work, and the Pelicans' Jones is also a ruthless person. In this series, the Pelicans' fiercer Ingram still cut 22 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists, but unfortunately met Paul who was in good shape and the better-configured Suns.