On April 8, Beijing time, the NBA regular season Suns hosted the Pelicans, before the game, the Suns 46-31 ranked 6th in the West, while the Pelicans were 45-32 ranked 7th in the West. Suns starters: Booker + Beal + Allen + Durant + Nurkic, Pelicans starters: McCollum + Jones + Murphy + Zion + Valanciunas.
In the first quarter of the game, Wallan and McCollum scored consecutive jumpers, Booker and Nurkic responded together, the Pelicans made various mistakes, Beal chased down three points, the Suns stopped the Pelicans directly, and after coming back, Zion scored 4 points in a row, Durant and Allen responded with three points, and Booker responded with 2+1, at this time, the Suns have a double-digit lead, how to shoot how iron the Pelicans shoot outside, and there are many mistakes, the difference came to 12 points after Durant's dunk, Eubanks hat Daniels, McCollum three-point Pelicans stopped the bleeding, Gordon also responded with three points, Alvarado hit three points again, McCollum hit the board, at the end of the quarter, Beal and McCollum hit three points, Eubanks did not score a layup, Beal pressed the whistle and hit the iron, 26-19 Suns led by 7 points in a single quarter.
Durant got 5 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists in the first quarter, Beal jumper in the second quarter, Gordon made a layup, Beal jumped again, the difference came to 13 points, Alvarado fired outside, Nance dunked in the air, Ball dunked, the Suns still had the upper hand during this time, and then the Pelicans began to exert their strength, Zion tossed, Murphy dunked, McCollum hit a three-point shot, Nance jumped, Murphy scored three points, a wave of 12-0 Pelicans chased to 36 draws, the Suns relied on Booker's jumper to stop the bleeding, but McCollum scored three points or overtook him, Allen responded with three points, Durant threw up, McCollum, Murphy and Alvarado can still score three points, the Pelicans actually opened up the difference, Allen hit a three-point shot, Durant made a layup, Alvarado pressed the whistle and hit a three-point iron, and the Suns beat the Pelicans 50-56 at halftime.
Halftime statistics, Durant 9 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists, Nurkic 4 points and 4 rebounds, Beal 10 points and 4 assists, Allen 9 points, 3 rebounds and 2 steals, Booker 11 points, 2 rebounds and 4 assists. On the Pelicans' side, Zion had 9 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists, Herbert Jones had 3 rebounds and 3 assists, Valanciunas had 2 points and 2 rebounds, McCollum had 21 points and 3 rebounds, Murphy had 8 points and 2 rebounds, Nance Jr. had 4 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals, and Alvarado had 12 points and 2 rebounds.
Yibian fights again, Zion hat Bill, McCollum chases down three points, Nance 2+1, Pelicans lead by 12 points, Booker jumper is 2+1, Zion hits two free throws, Beal throws, Murphy three-point shot, the difference is still 12 points, Beal, Booker and Durant take turns scoring, the Suns chase single digits, it is still McCollum three-point response, the Suns can't prevent him, Beal hits three points, Durant dunks, the difference is 4 points, Durant turns over and shoots after a pause, Zion makes free throws +The jump shot scored 4 points in a row, and the Suns hit all three points in a row, otherwise they would have overtaken, Booker and Daniels caused a conflict, and as a result, both of them ate T, Zion made a basket, Booker made a three-point frame, McCollum threw a shot, and the Suns ended the third quarter 83-90 Pelicans.
At the beginning of the critical last quarter, Alvarado hit a three-point shot, Beal suddenly broke out, scored three points, scored a three-point layup, hit a three-point layup, hit a three-point shot, and then hit a three-point shot, leading the Suns to directly overtake, the Pelicans are also tough, Zion keeps scoring to stabilize the situation, and also nails the board hat Durant, such as throwing, the Suns are 2 points behind, Nance makes two free throws, Allen hits iron with three points, Zion dunks, Booker layup, the difference is 4 points, McCollum makes a jumper, Booker doesn't score three points, Durant makes two free throws, but Zion responds with a difficult layup, Booker three points or iron, Jones makes free throws to end the suspense, and finally the Pelicans 113-105 reversed the Suns。
Suns stats: Durant was 8-of-22, 3-of-8 three-pointers, and 4-of-4 free throws to get 23 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists, including 12 points in the third quarter, but as he gets older, Durant is now prone to physical problems, especially in the final quarter, and only scored 2 points. Booker scored 25 points, 3 rebounds, 7 assists and 4 turnovers in 9 of 16, Beal scored 33 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 blocks and 3 turnovers in 13 of 19, and exploded in the final quarter with 15 points in a single quarter. Nurkic had 6 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals and 3 turnovers, couldn't score, and he also had all kinds of butter hands, and the defensive end was also blown up by Zion. Allen had 11 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks, and he was 3-of-10 from three-point range.
Gordon had five points, Bol had two points and two rebounds, and Eubanks had nine rebounds and two assists. After this battle, the pattern of the West has changed dramatically, and the Suns continue to rank 6th in the West, but the win is the same as the 7th Pelicans, so that the Lakers are reaping the benefits, and the gap between the Suns and the Pelicans is currently 1.0 games, whether it is the Suns or the Pelicans, losing is actually beneficial to the Lakers, this is the Wild West, who would have thought that the Lakers would have a chance to hit the top 7 or even the top 6 in the West? It should be noted that the Lakers will play against the Timberwolves today, if they win, then the gap with the Suns will be narrowed to only 0.5 games.
Pelicans stats: Zion 29 points, 10 rebounds, 7 assists, 5 blocks and 4 turnovers, McCollum 31 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 turnovers, Murphy 13 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists, Alvarado 15 points and 3 rebounds, Daniels 10 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists. Looking at the whole game, the reason why the Suns lost is very simple, Durant is physically exhausted at the end of the game, there are many mistakes, and then the defense is terrible, and the Suns dare not lose again after this battle, otherwise they may be overtaken by the Lakers.