The Suns defeated the Pelicans, Booker scored a record 52 points, and rekindled the hope of a straight pass
On April 2, Beijing time, the NBA regular season ended with a Western focus card battle, and the Suns defeated the Pelicans, sending their opponents to two consecutive defeats and winning a key game at the same time. As a result, the Suns have a record of 44-31 and move up to seventh in the West, just one win away from the Pelicans, who are in sixth place and go straight to the playoffs.
The Suns can win this game, which has a lot to do with Booker's play. Less than half a quarter into the first quarter, he shot 5-of-6 from the field and 4-of-5 from three-point range to score 14 points and lead the team to the lead. In the first quarter, Booker scored 24 points, and the Suns led their opponents by 18 points. Booker scored 13 points in the second quarter. In the third quarter, the Suns' turnovers skyrocketed, and Booker scored 11 points in a single quarter. In the fourth quarter, Booker hit key shots in a row, and the Suns withstood the impact of the Pelicans and won the victory. Booker had 52 points, 3 rebounds and 9 assists and made eight three-pointers.
Booker's performance was truly outstanding, hitting eight three-pointers for a career-setting career. It is worth mentioning that the Pelicans can be called Booker's favorite opponent, and in the two previous meetings in this game, Booker scored 58 points once and 52 points once. Since the beginning of 2022, Booker has faced the Pelicans 9 times, averaging a crazy 36.9 points per game, so it is not an exaggeration to say that the Pelicans' defense is useless in front of Booker.
After the Suns won this victory, they overtook the Kings and approached the Pelicans in sixth, rekindling the hope of a straight pass. According to the rules, the top six in the West can go straight to the playoffs without having to compete in the extremely cruel play-offs, and it is clear that the Suns, who have the Big Three, do not want to participate in the play-offs, so in the final sprint of the regular season, the Suns' goal is to squeeze out the Kings and the Suns and get the qualification.
The Suns have 7 games left, and it is not an easy thing to overtake the Pelicans, they need to get more wins, and they have to hope that the Pelicans will continue to drop the chain, and the next opponent of the Suns is the Cavaliers and the Timberwolves, and the result of the rematch against the Pelicans on April 8 is likely to determine whether the Suns can get the top six in the West.