The Pelicans added their eighth win of the season in the Suns’ visit to New Orleans. Van Gundy’s team beat Arizona 123-101, a victory that does not prevent them from abandoning the penultimate position in the West but that brings them slightly closer to the fight for the play-in, which seems highly contested in the conference. Phoenix, for its part, ranks sixth with a balance of 11-9.
The locals shone especially in the second half, in which they scored 75 of their points and prevented Monty Williams’ men from having any chance to react. Their great offensive level catapulted them after a fairly even first half, allowing them to close the match quite comfortably and gain an advantage of up to 28 points in the fourth quarter (119-91).
The great figure of the Pelicans was Zion Williamson, who signed an extraordinarily efficient night. The power forward was not only the top scorer of the clash with 28 points, but he reached that figure with a splendid 12/14 shooting from the field and without losing a single ball. In addition, the sophomore He added 7 rebounds and 6 assists, which stood out him above the rest and made his team have a partial +37 in their minutes on the court.
Brandon Ingram, with 23 points, was Zion’s best squire, while Lonzo Ball reached 18. Steven Adams, for his part, returned after missing Monday’s game against Sacramento scoring 11 points and grabbing 13 rebounds, 8 of which they were offensive.
“I don’t think there is any doubt that it was our best game of the season,” said Van Gundy. “We were good on both sides of the court and we kept the level during all four quarters.”
In the Suns, Devin Booker had to live a night in which he found very little support in his teammates, something more typical of previous seasons than the current one. Although he did not have his most inspired encounter, especially in the outside shooting, the guard finished with 25 points to his credit, followed very far by the 13 that DeAndre Ayton scored, who also grabbed 11 rebounds. Abdel Nader was third in scoring with 11, while Chris Paul, who only shot 7 times to the basket, stayed at 10.
(Cover photo: Jonathan Bachman / Getty Images)