Orphans of Devin Booker, the Suns still managed to regain control of the series (and the advantage of the field) at the Pelicans last night.
However, it was anything but easy for the teammates of Chris Paul and Deandre Ayton, jostled throughout the game and forced to rely on the exploits of “CP3” in the money-time to win.
Still in the lead five minutes from the end of this Game 3, the New Orleans players could therefore harbor some regrets after the match. All the more so in the face of this diminished opponent, even if CJ McCollum insisted on repeating that it meant nothing.
« What I have repeatedly told the team is that an injured animal is not the same as a healthy animal, because you don’t know what to expect “, he recalled, before the meeting.
Chris Paul and Deandre Ayton as executioners
With or without Devin Booker, this Phoenix team remains in any case always as solid and serene in hot moments. In the wake of his maestro Chris Paul, surgical at mid-distance and in the pass, she constantly knew how to succeed in the necessary actions, in attack as in defense. Quite the opposite of the New Orleans franchise…
« We missed each other in some areas », regretted Brandon Ingram (34 points, 7 rebounds), afterwards. ” I know I gave up two offensive rebounds, I missed defensive coverage, I could have been better. We can go back, look at a lot of things, details in the game and improve. We lost by three points, but we didn’t play well. We lost some balls, we have to take better care of the ball. I’m motivated for the next game. »
As the winger pointed out, the Pelicans clearly sinned when it came to taking care of the ball. Evidenced by their 15 ball losses (against 6 for the Suns), which cost them 23 points in stride.
Another aspect of the game in which the men of Willie Green were punished: the battle of the interior sector, with Jonas Valanciunas, Larry Nance Jr. and Jaxson Hayes who were crushed all evening by JaVale McGee and, above all, Deandre Ayton .
« We must do better to make work [Deandre] Ayton, [les Suns] did a great job finding him, passing him [la balle] at office. And he did a great job attacking. But we will be better in the next game », yet warned the NOLA coachaware that his players were outplayed 64-40, on points in the paint.
And Willie Green then evokes the other poison of Phoenix, namely Chris Paul, his ex-teammate in New Orleans then Los Angeles: “ You have to try to take the ball out of his hands as much as possible. But he’s smart, there’s a reason he’s in the NBA Top 75. At the end of the game, he can control the game and order things, which he did. »
Grow in contact with excellence
Clearly, the Pelicans hit a bone in front of their home crowd. And what a bone, since it is simply the best team in the league, incidentally reigning NBA finalist…
« They understand what it takes to win and we are doing what it takes to move in that direction. “Added Willie Green, regarding this ability of the Suns to kill a game.
Now under pressure before Game 4, the New Orleans franchise is not yet completely back to the wall, because a success Sunday evening, in Louisiana, would allow them to equalize and make Phoenix tremble more in this series…
« We’ve been there before, we’ve been led in this series, on their floor “, explained in this regard Larry Nance Jr, who always wants to be positive. ” It’s not something we haven’t experienced. We look at this situation in the same way as during the play-in: you have to win every game. »
| Shots | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | LF | Off | Def | Until | Pd | Bp | Int | Ct | Fte | Pts |
| C.j. Mccollum | 26 | 33.8 | 49.3 | 39.4 | 66.7 | 0.7 | 3.7 | 4.5 | 5.8 | 2.2 | 1.3 | 0.0 | 1.7 | 24.3 |
| Brandon Ingram | 55 | 34.0 | 46.1 | 32.7 | 82.6 | 0.6 | 5.2 | 5.8 | 5.6 | 2.7 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 2.2 | 22.7 |
| Jonas Valančiūnas | 74 | 30.3 | 54.4 | 36.1 | 82.0 | 3.1 | 8.3 | 11.4 | 2.6 | 2.4 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 3.3 | 17.8 |
| Josh Hart | 41 | 33.5 | 50.5 | 32.3 | 75.3 | 1.3 | 6.5 | 7.8 | 4.1 | 2.0 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 2.9 | 13.4 |
| Nickeil Alexander-walker | 50 | 26.3 | 37.5 | 31.1 | 72.2 | 0.7 | 2.6 | 3.3 | 2.8 | 1.7 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 1.8 | 12.8 |
| Devonte ‘Graham | 76 | 28.4 | 36.3 | 34.1 | 84.3 | 0.5 | 1.8 | 2.3 | 4.2 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 1.2 | 11.9 |
| Herb Jones | 78 | 29.9 | 47.6 | 33.7 | 84.0 | 1.3 | 2.5 | 3.8 | 2.1 | 1.3 | 1.7 | 0.8 | 3.1 | 9.5 |
| Jaxson Hayes | 70 | 20.0 | 61.6 | 35.1 | 76.6 | 1.6 | 2.9 | 4.5 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 2.2 | 9.3 |
| Willy Hernangomez | 50 | 16.8 | 52.0 | 33.3 | 77.3 | 2.9 | 3.9 | 6.8 | 1.3 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 1.9 | 9.1 |
| Jared Harper | 5 | 8.6 | 53.8 | 41.7 | 100.0 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 2.8 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 1.0 | 7.4 |
| Larry Nance, Jr. | 9 | 20.2 | 55.1 | 50.0 | 100.0 | 1.6 | 2.8 | 4.3 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 1.9 | 7.3 |
| Joseph Alvarado | 54 | 15.4 | 44.6 | 29.1 | 67.9 | 0.5 | 1.4 | 1.9 | 2.8 | 0.7 | 1.3 | 0.1 | 1.4 | 6.1 |
| Kira Lewis, Jr. | 24 | 14.2 | 40.4 | 22.4 | 83.3 | 0.4 | 1.2 | 1.6 | 2.0 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 5.9 |
| Tony Snell | 15 | 18.4 | 44.6 | 39.6 | 100.0 | 0.3 | 1.7 | 2.1 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 1.7 | 5.9 |
| Naji Marshall | 55 | 13.4 | 40.5 | 20.0 | 79.6 | 0.7 | 1.9 | 2.6 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 1.3 | 5.7 |
| Trey Murphy Iii | 62 | 13.9 | 39.4 | 38.2 | 88.2 | 0.8 | 1.6 | 2.4 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 1.0 | 5.4 |
| Garrett Temple | 59 | 18.6 | 37.6 | 31.9 | 68.3 | 0.5 | 1.9 | 2.4 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 1.4 | 5.2 |
| Tyrone Wallace | 6 | 12.5 | 35.0 | 25.0 | 20.0 | 0.0 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 1.2 | 2.8 |
| Tomas Satoransky | 32 | 15.0 | 29.9 | 16.1 | 76.0 | 0.6 | 1.4 | 2.0 | 2.4 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 2.8 |
| Gary Clark | 38 | 9.9 | 37.5 | 40.0 | 70.0 | 0.6 | 1.8 | 2.4 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 2.7 |
| Alize Johnson | 4 | 7.1 | 30.0 | 0.0 | 75.0 | 1.8 | 1.5 | 3.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 2.2 |
| Didi Louzada | 2 | 3.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |