NEW ORLEANS — Devin Booker was doing some stretching exercises for that strained right hamstring in the area outside the Smoothie King Center court before Friday night’s Game 3.
He was wearing street clothes on the bench and showed a little burst nearly heading onto the court to contest a call with the rest of his teammates on the sidelines.
Booker didn’t play, but Chris Paul and Deandre Ayton sure did.
Both scored 28 points in the game. Ayton set the tone with 21 in the first half, Paul closed the deal with 19 in the fourth and the Suns had just enough in between to escape with an 114-111 victory over the Pelicans before a sellout crowd of 18,962.
Ayton, the former Arizona Wildcats standout, grabbed 17 rebounds to go along with a playoff career-high scoring effort; Paul dished out 14 assists and didn’t commit a turnover in 40 minutes.
Here are five takeaways from a game that had 15 lead changes and 14 ties. Game 4 is set for Sunday in New Orleans, with top-seed Phoenix up 2-1 in the best-of-7 first-round series.
CP3 rules fourth quarters
Takeaway No. 1: Paul has scored 19 in the fourth in each of Phoenix’s two wins in this series.
In Game 1, he was upset with how Phoenix allowed New Orleans to chop down its 23-point lead to six in the fourth. He finished the 110-99 victory with 30.
In Game 3, Paul knew without Booker he would be the only one on the floor fully equipped to handle what the Suns were facing.
A wild and energized crowd amped up like a No Limit Reunion Tour concert with Master P sitting courtside.
A young, confident Pelicans team looking to shock the world again.
Booker couldn’t enter a phone booth and return with a cape to help save them, either.
Yes, Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson and Ayton accumulated much postgame experience in their first playoff run that ended in the finals.
Jae Crowder has played in back-to-back finals and been to the postseason nine straight years. Landry Shamet has competed in the playoffs in each of his four seasons.
Even JaVale McGee has three chips, but no one on this team has the same amount of meaningful postseason experience as Paul.
This is his 14th playoff run. Paul’s played and started in 132 postseason games.
And he’s has the ball in his hands most of time, with the exception of playing with James Harden those two years in Houston.
So when the Pelicans took a 93-92 lead with 5:41 left off Jose Alvarado’s basket that took the crowd to that “anything is possible” place, Paul settled down the Suns.
He answered with six straight points to put Phoenix up five with 4:16 remaining.
Paul called Crowder’s putback of his missed 3 to beat the shot clock and give Phoenix a five-point edge, 100-95, with 3:17 left the play that “really sealed” the win.
Point taken, but Paul put the game away with two huge plays after that.
He tracked down his own 3-ball miss and found Crowder for a deep corner 2 that gave Phoenix a 102-95 lead with 2:08 left.
Then with the shot clock expiring after a Phoenix timeout, Paul hit a tough, one-hander over the much taller Herbert Jones to push the advantage back up to seven with 92 seconds remaining.
From there, it became the kind of free-throw game the Suns usually win. Paul and Bridges combined to nail 10 straight to complete the victory.
Suns center Deandre Ayton dunks against the Pelicans during the first half of Friday’s win.
Ayton set Game 3 tone
Takeaway 2: As great as Paul was in the end, Ayton got things started with a 13-point, four-rebound first quarter.
He established a playoff career high for points in the first half, but Ayton’s most important number of the night was the team-high 20 shots he took for the game.
That’s also a playoff career high.
Credit Booker for that number.
“D-Book was just telling me, ‘Don’t get tired of shooting the ball,’” Ayton said. “He just kept saying change your mindset. Don’t think you have to move it. We need you to score this ball, score this ball.”
Ayton later said his teammates as behind him as well.
Notice a pattern here?
It appears Ayton, the team’s most talented player in terms of size, skill set and athleticism, needs his teammates to give their stamp of approval for him to go to work.
Like, really go to work and look like a player that deserved a rookie max contract extension going into the season.
His 13 makes from the field was also a playoff-career best.
The Suns have a team that shares the ball, but Booker is their go-to guy.
Paul and Booker are the closers.
Phoenix has multiple guys who can knock down 3s, but Ayton is the only one on this team who can do what he does on both ends at that level.
McGee said Ayton, the guy he gets hyped up before games, had him energized to go with that fast 6-of-7 start.
McGee finished with 15 points on 7-of-8 shooting.
With team owner Robert Sarver and General Manager James Jones in the building, Ayton showed both once what he’s capable of doing.
The question is, can he continue to have a consistent huge impact on the game in the playoffs? That’d sure make Phoenix’s path to a championship a much smoother road to travel and play a role in a huge payday.
Pelicans dominate third quarters
Takeaway 3: Three things greatly explain why New Orleans is owning the third quarter of this series.
The Pelicans have trailed at the half of all three games and came out with more energy to start the second half.
The Suns have come out too relaxed after closing the first half strong.
Willie Green is making better halftime adjustments than Monty Williams.
It’s probably a combination of all three, along with Booker going down with 4:35 left in the third quarter of Game 2.
Whatever it is, the end result is New Orleans outscoring Phoenix by a dominant 102-70 margin in the third through three games.
Game 1: Pelicans 37, Suns 26 (Trailed 53-34 at the half).
Game 2: Pelicans 34, Suns 22 (Trailed 61-56 at the half).
Game 3: Pelicans 31, Suns 22 (Trailed 59-48 at the half).
The Suns have shot a bleak 3-of-20 from 3 in the third quarters in this series.
They went 1-of-7 on 3s in the third Friday, but Williams shared the positive side of that ugly number.
“We couldn’t make a shot, but we were getting quality looks in the third,” Williams said after the game. “We told our guys in the late timeout in the third that we can’t waver as we are getting good shots.”
The difference between Game 2 and Game 3 in the third is Phoenix handled the third quarter surge by New Orleans better.
The Pelicans led by seven going into the fourth of Game 2.
They appeared on their way to leading by the same margin or bigger Friday when shrinking a 13-point Phoenix lead to one on with a 12-0 run.
With Booker out, the Suns didn’t have their go-to guy, but they responded out of the timeout as Bridges had a huge 3-point to play to answer that 12-0 run.
Then Ayton dunked off a feed from Paul, who later scored in pushing Phoenix’s lead up to six with 5:41 left in the third.
That 93-second moment was huge in Phoenix going into the fourth up 81-79.
The Suns could’ve fell behind again as they did Game 2 after three quarters, but only this time on the road.
Instead they didn’t waver, and are now a stunning 49-0 this season when ahead going into the fourth.
Suns rebound shift ahead?
Takeaway 4: The Suns lost the board battle again Friday.
New Orleans outrebounded Phoenix 45-35, but the Suns might be in the early stages of winning that war.
The Pelicans are now plus-40 on the glass overall, plus-25 on the offensive boards.
That plus-25 is a bit misleading, though.
Game 1: Pelicans 25 offensive rebounds, Suns five.
Game 2: Pelicans 11, Suns eight.
Game 3: Pelicans 11, Suns nine.
Digging a little deeper, New Orleans managed just one offensive rebound in the second half, with Phoenix grabbing five.
The Suns outrebounded the Pelicans, 19-17, after the break.
So maybe the Suns have figured out the rebounding woes.
Effort and attention to detail goes a long way in that area.
If Phoenix can keep trending in this direction for Game 4, it’ll likely return home with an opportunity to close out the Pelicans on Tuesday in Phoenix without having to ponder the thought of Booker returning for a Game 6 in New Orleans.
Hayes made it happen
Takeaway 5: Pelicans forward Jaxson Hayes shoving Crowder to the floor started a chain of events that impacted Friday’s outcome.
After review, Hayes received a Flagrant 2 and was ejected with 5:13 left in the half.
The Suns responded with a 16-5 run to go into halftime up 11 to break a 43-43 tie.
McGee said it’s not wise for teams to go at Phoenix like that because the Suns tend to play harder after heated exchanges.
Ayton agreed, but took it a step further.
“I think we needed a hit like that,” he said.
With Hayes gone, Williams started Shamet in the second half instead of Johnson because Hayes at the four can be a matchup problem.
Hayes left the game with just four points, but grabbed six rebounds in 10 minutes.
He could’ve been a problem in the second half, but did his final act of night proved to be a wakeup call for Phoenix.
The 16-5 run says yes, but New Orleans came back.
The Pelicans aren’t going anywhere.
They’re going to continue to play hard and physical.
How Phoenix responds will determine if the series is tied 2-2 or Phoenix 3-1 after Sunday’s Game 4.
