postgame wrap

An intense, hard-fought, nip-and-tuck battle to keep the season alive came down to the final minute, where the NBA’s best team at late-game execution made just enough plays to stave off and eliminate upset-minded New Orleans.

Phoenix trailed by three points entering the fourth quarter, but won that period by a 33-24 margin. The Suns rode incredible shooting from Chris Paul and Deandre Ayton, who combined to go 24/26 from the field. Paul did not miss in his 14 attempts, often benefiting from friendly Smoothie King Center rims he shot on as a New Orleans Hornet from 2005-11.

For the Pelicans, a season that began with a 1-12 start culminated with two memorable play-in wins and a pair of playoff victories over a Suns club that led the league with a 64-18 mark during the regular season. New Orleans made the playoffs for the first time since 2018, catching and passing a number of Western Conference teams to earn a spot.

“It looks like we’ll be in a couple more postseasons,” forward Brandon Ingram said of the team’s future. “There is a lot of confidence coming from this (competitive series vs. Phoenix). We’ll know what to expect a little bit more next year. We look forward to the summer and getting better.”

“We’ve got a great group,” Pelicans head coach Willie Green said of his players. “They fought all the way to the end. We’re all proud of our guys.”

Jae Crowder sank a free throw with 13 seconds left, giving Phoenix a six-point lead. New Orleans misfired on a series of three-point attempts in the final half-minute, allowing the Suns to prevail. In his return to the court from a hamstring injury, Devin Booker made one of the night’s biggest baskets, a three-pointer to give the Suns a late lead.

Just when Phoenix seemed to be trying to take control, rookie Herbert Jones put together a fierce third-quarter stretch in which he was a demon on both ends of the court. The Alabama product finished with 16 points, four rebounds, four assists and of course, four steals.

In another sign of just how important and valuable the second-round pick was to the Pelicans, he logged 40 minutes in the must-win game, second to Ingram’s 44 minutes.

99.6: Percentage chance New Orleans has of adding a top-10 draft pick to its arsenal during the May 17 lottery.

36-8: New Orleans advantage in points in the paint in Thursday’s first half. The final tally was 60-40, but Phoenix shot 60 percent overall from the field.

36-32: Pelicans rebounding advantage. Given how much NOLA dominated the boards throughout the series, this close margin qualified as a notable “win” for Phoenix.

It was the Pelicans’ best first half of the series, resulting in their first intermission lead at 58-48. But the Suns scored 67 points after the break.

Although New Orleans still had too many possessions up against the shot clock at times, the hosts were more aggressive and therefore won fast-break points 20-7.

At forward, Ingram held the slight upper hand against one of the NBA’s top defensive players, scoring 21 points and handing out 11 assists. Phoenix’s Mikal Bridges followed up his 31-point performance in Game 5 with 18 points. The forwards combined to commit 10 turnovers.

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Game 6 playoff postgame wrap: No. 1 Suns 115, No. 8 Pelicans 109

A Phoenix team that excelled in a variety of categories and posted the NBA’s best record this season returned to form to a large extent Tuesday. New Orleans kept battling and remained in the hunt despite the Suns grabbing a big lead, but the Pelicans couldn’t get close enough to pull off a road victory.

Phoenix regained the series edge by going up a dozen points after a quarter and led by 18 points midway through the third period, before Jose Alvarado spearheaded a rally at both ends of the floor.

“They kind of knocked us on our heels early,” New Orleans head coach Willie Green said of the Suns. “We did a better job throughout the rest of the game, but just to start, we have to be better.”

Mikal Bridges sank a pair of free throws with just over a minute remaining, giving Phoenix an 11-point lead. The Pelicans had a few chances to cut their deficit to two possessions, but misfired on jumpers, enabling the Suns to keep the visitors at arm’s length.

During one stretch of the fourth quarter, Alvarado authored a series of defensive highlights, including creating another eight-second violation against Chris Paul and picking up two steals. The rookie from Georgia Tech also scored seven points in the final stanza, including hitting a big three-point bucket, dropping in a layup and drawing a foul to sink two free throws. He totaled 12 points in 20 minutes.

10/27, 5/25: Phoenix three-point shooting, then New Orleans three-point shooting. The Suns have struggled from distance throughout the series but received some timely triples from the likes of Cam Payne and Mikal Bridges, who were 6/7 combined.

80-77: Suns scoring advantage in the final three quarters. A 32-20 first quarter proved essential for the hosts.

14: New Orleans assists, too low of a tally and reflecting the need for better ball movement.

Phoenix was a step quicker to the ball early, putting New Orleans on its heels. As Joel Meyers noted on New Orleans’ TV broadcast, the Suns grabbed more than their share of 50-50 balls, leading to some momentum-stopping offensive boards and second-chance buckets.

It wasn’t an efficient night for CJ McCollum at 7/22 for 21 points, while Brandon Ingram put up nearly the same shooting numbers (7/19 for 22 points). Both players dished out five assists, but that represented more than two-thirds of the Pelicans’ dimes.

Among the Pelicans’ three rookies with rotation roles, Alvarado played perhaps his best overall game of the series so far – which is saying something – while Herbert Jones made his usual versatile contributions (seven rebounds, two blocks, two steals) but went 1/5 shooting in 40 minutes. Trey Murphy III came up with a block in 13 minutes.

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Game 5 playoff postgame wrap: No. 1 Suns 112, No. 8 Pelicans 97

With Brandon Ingram finding holes in Phoenix’s elite defense, Jose Alvarado finding ways to bother the Suns’ elite point guard in the backcourt and Herbert Jones swatting everything that showed up on his defensive radar, eighth-seeded New Orleans stood toe-to-toe against the Western Conference’s top seed Sunday for three quarters, then put them away in the fourth.

The Pelicans evened their series against the Suns, powered by a third straight game of 30-plus points by Ingram. Alvarado was a menace on defense in the backcourt, while Jones managed to block three three-point shots by Phoenix. Alvarado forced future Hall of Famer Chris Paul into an eight-second violation, and later stole the ball from behind in what's become a common tactic by him, to the utter delight of a sellout home crowd.

New Orleans trailed 51-49 at intermission, but outscored Phoenix 35-23 in the third quarter, then stretched the lead to as many as 18 points in the final stanza.

“They’re a tough team,” Pelicans head coach Willie Green said of the Suns, whom he coached as an assistant the previous two seasons under Monty Williams. “They make you bring it. We’re proud of our guys, the effort, the energy. We competed at a high level for 48 minutes.”

"We just wanted to be more aggressive, continue to play our style of basketball," Jones said on postgame radio of the Pelicans taking the game to the Suns, after sometimes being a step behind in Friday's Game 3. "Get back to how we play defensively and offensively."

Alvarado capped a big surge by New Orleans by driving to the basket and getting fouled, sinking two free throws for a 101-85 lead midway through the fourth quarter. Moments earlier, the Smoothie King Center crowd chanted and sang “Jose!” in honor the catalytic reserve point guard. CJ McCollum added another crowd-pleasing score with a three-pointer to make it 107-90 with three-plus minutes to go.

Ingram has been a force to be reckoned with all series, but Game 4's third quarter may have been his best period so far, as he piled up 16 points. The forward was vexing for Phoenix in the first three quarters, tallying all of his 30 points. He finished 11/23 from the field and 7/10 from the foul line.

“Brandon is playing some of his best basketball of the season,” Green said. “And he’s doing it on the biggest stage. It’s great to see. He’s more than capable. He’s the real deal. He puts the work in in practice and we’re seeing it on display.”

11: Years since the Pelicans played a Game 6 in any playoff series. By winning Sunday, they guaranteed they’ll be in one Thursday in the Smoothie King Center vs. Phoenix. But first, New Orleans will try to notch a second victory on the Suns' home floor Tuesday in Game 5.

48-39: New Orleans rebounding edge. The Pelicans have won the board battle in all four games of the series.

7/27, 6/24: Phoenix three-point shooting, followed by New Orleans three-point shooting. The category was basically a wash, which qualifies as a win for the Pelicans.

Significantly better for New Orleans, which did not allow Paul to take over at all, unlike the fourth quarter of Game 3. Paul finished 2/8 from the field and scored four points.

Not only did New Orleans fare much better in the turnover department, but the Pelicans won it Sunday, forcing 13 and only committing nine.

An emphasis on getting Jonas Valanciunas more involved in the offense yielded early dividends, with the center scoring 11 first-half points on 5/7 shooting. He was even bigger in the second half, finishing with 26 points and 15 rebounds. Valanciunas was 9/15 from the field.

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Game 4 playoff postgame wrap: No. 8 Pelicans 118, No. 1 Suns 103

Attempting to post consecutive victories over the Western Conference’s top seed and seize a lead in a best-of-seven series Friday, New Orleans played Phoenix evenly for three-plus quarters. In crunch time, a familiar face in the Crescent City carried the Suns to victory. After the Pelicans sliced into a 13-point second-half deficit, Phoenix guard Chris Paul – the all-time New Orleans leader in a few statistical categories – went on a fourth-quarter scoring barrage from mid-range. For the second time in the series, the Suns used a late outburst from their veteran All-Star floor general to overtake the Pelicans.

“You try to take the ball out of his hands as much as you can, but he’s crafty,” Pelicans head coach Willie Green said of Paul, a former teammate on the 2010-11 New Orleans Hornets. “There’s a reason why he’s one of the top 75 players of all time. In late-game situations, he can set the table and control the game.

“But our guys, we fought and I’m proud of them. It was a hard-fought game. A couple key mistakes down the stretch for us, but we’ll be fine.”

New Orleans came up empty on a series of critical possessions, allowing Phoenix to build a 106-97 lead with less than a minute remaining. After Paul sank a pair of free throws, it was 108-100 at 0:30. CJ McCollum drained a three-pointer that cut it to a one-possession game late, but the final buzzer sounded as the ball went through the hoop.

On a night when New Orleans needed a late push to climb up from the low 40s percentage-wise from the field, Brandon Ingram was a needed efficient source of offense, going 11/19 and notching 34 points. The 2020 All-Star also was 3/6 from three-point range and 9/10 on free throws.

9:58: Jaxson Hayes playing time. The New Orleans starting power forward was ejected due to a flagrant foul-penalty 2 when he knocked over Jae Crowder in the first half.

25-9: Phoenix run to close the second quarter, turning a five-point deficit into a 59-48 halftime edge. The Suns went up by 13 early in the third period before the Pelicans surged back into the game.

15: New Orleans turnovers. Phoenix only committed six, leading to just seven NOLA points.

New Orleans followed up its best three-point shooting game of the season with a below average night, going just 11/32 at 34 percent. That rate was even a little deceptive because the hosts made a few threes in the final minute after the Suns had essentially sealed the win.

It was more of the same in the series, with New Orleans controlling the backboards a third straight game vs. Phoenix. The Pelicans won rebounding 45-35, but the Suns pulled down some crucial offensive caroms to extend fourth-quarter possessions.

With Devin Booker (hamstring) reportedly out for multiple games, the Suns leaned more heavily on Deandre Ayton, who was fantastic in the first half (21 points) and totaled 28. JaVale McGee provided more scoring punch from the center position with 15 points off the bench in just 12 minutes. No Booker but Phoenix still shot 51 percent from the field, though it was very poor on three-pointers (4/26).

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Game 3 playoff postgame wrap: No. 1 Suns 114, No. 8 Pelicans 111

It didn’t take long for New Orleans and its many first-time playoff participants to get accustomed to the NBA’s biggest stage. It didn’t take long for the Pelicans to make a relatively common prediction that they’d get swept in Round 1 by the league’s best team already incorrect.

After struggling in Game 1 on Sunday, New Orleans responded big-time Tuesday, taking over in the second half with a 69-53 edge. The Pelicans withstood a spectacular first half from Phoenix guard Devin Booker, who piled up 31 points before intermission.

“I thought we settled in,” CJ McCollum said of how the Pelicans responded after their Game 1 loss.

“The most important thing with our group is we just kept our poise,” head coach Willie Green said of his team playing composed in a raucous Footprint Center against a Suns club that went 64-18. “They made some runs. (We came) out and executed over and over again in the last five minutes of the game.”

For seven New Orleans players (out of 10 in Green’s rotation), Sunday was the first time they’d ever appeared in an NBA playoff game. Tuesday was their first playoff win.

New Orleans forced Phoenix into a backcourt violation with 1:24 left, leading by eight points. Brandon Ingram knocked down a pair of free throws for a 123-114 edge seconds later.

Whether it was the team’s potent scoring duo that regularly produces nights of 50-plus points, or invaluable contributions from three different rookies, or the boost provided by a backup big who made his New Orleans debut less than a month ago, the list of stars was lengthy. The biggest was Ingram, who went for 37 points in just his second career playoff game. The 2020 All-Star deposited 26 second-half points, including double digits in both the third (14) and fourth (12) quarters. He also nearly notched a triple-double, finishing with 11 rebounds and nine assists.

Informed afterward that Ingram came up an assist shy of the feat, Larry Nance Jr. initially joked that he was upset, but then said “triple-double or not, Brandon Ingram was Brandon Ingram. We all know who he is. He’s a superstar. He makes big plays. He’s a crunch-time player. He closed this game out for us, like he’s done all year.”

9/19: New Orleans three-point shooting in the first half.

8/12: New Orleans three-point shooting in the second half. Ingram drained three in the second half, while McCollum and Jose Alvarado drained two apiece, with both guards hitting them in big spots of the fourth quarter.

32-9: Phoenix home record during the regular season. However, one of those defeats came vs. New Orleans in the first game for the Pelicans after the All-Star break. 

Outstanding. New Orleans won fast-break points 16-9, tallying eight transition points in both halves Tuesday. The Pelicans only mustered two fast-break points in the entire Game 1.

Definitely could’ve been better here, considering Booker piled up 31 points in the first half on ridiculous three-point shooting, including a few bombs where he was left wide open due to Pelicans miscommunication. Booker left the game late in the third quarter with a hamstring injury, preventing him from doing further damage. Meanwhile, Chris Paul obliterated NOLA’s defense late in Game 1, but this time he shot 5/16 and tallied 17 points.

The Suns limited McCollum and Ingram to 13/42 shooting in Game 1, but they were 20/39 this time, including a scorching-hot 9/13 from three-point range. McCollum’s odd shooting night consisted of 1/8 on twos, but 6/10 on threes.

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Game 2 playoff postgame wrap: No. 8 Pelicans 125, No. 1 Suns 114

New Orleans has repeatedly shown an ability to rally from deficits this season, including saving their season Friday via a fourth-quarter comeback at the Clippers, but the Pelicans dug themselves too large of a hole Sunday in Phoenix. After the visitors sliced the margin to within a couple possessions, a familiar face in the Crescent City made sure the Suns prevailed.

Former New Orleans All-Star point guard Chris Paul went on a fourth-quarter scoring barrage (19 points), pushing back the Pelicans after they had surged into striking distance, despite their rough first half. Phoenix led 53-34 at intermission, but upset-minded New Orleans won the third period 37-26, then further cut into its deficit prior to Paul dominating a critical final-stanza stretch.

Mikal Bridges banked in a twisting layup with a minute-plus remaining, giving Phoenix a 108-97 lead.

Playing his first playoff game since the 2018 NBA Finals, Larry Nance Jr. was a game-changer in the second half, doing major damage in the city where his father rose to stardom in the 1980s as a member of the Suns. Nance scored all 14 of his points after intermission and totaled six rebounds, including three on the offensive boards. Nance packed that production into just 20 minutes of action.

25: Jonas Valanciunas’ New Orleans franchise-playoff record for total rebounds in a game. That was one shy of the most rebounds in a playoff contest since 1983-84, a mark shared by Bismack Biyombo (a current Suns reserve), Dwight Howard and Hakeem Olajuwon.

4/18: New Orleans shooting in the first half on what ESPN Stats & Info classifies as uncontested shots.

6: Phoenix first-half blocks. Sure the Pelicans missed a boatload of open looks, but the Suns’ defense was fierce all over the floor, including at the rim and in the paint.

Phoenix’s offense did not produce an avalanche of buckets at any stage prior to Paul’s one-man show in the fourth quarter, but the other end of the floor was the major problem for New Orleans.

Neither team made many mistakes (turnovers were NOLA 14, Phoenix 10), with the difference in shooting accuracy being a much larger swing factor in the outcome.

New Orleans probably needs CJ McCollum to play at or above his high standards to beat Phoenix, but the guard joined numerous teammates Sunday in not being able to locate his shooting touch until the Pelicans were down big. He finished 9/25 from the field and scored 25 points. Meanwhile, the Phoenix All-Star backcourt of Paul and Devin Booker combined for 55 points on 20/35 shooting and 8/14 three-point accuracy.

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Game 1 playoff postgame wrap: No. 1 Suns 110, No. 8 Pelicans 99

From up 16 to down 13 to a nail-biter in clutch time, Friday’s elimination game in Crypto.com Arena was a rollercoaster, drama-soaked and not for the faint of heart. Despite matters looking bleak and its season seemingly on the brink for a long stretch of the second half, New Orleans outlasted LA, pulling off one of the franchise’s most memorable victories.

The Pelicans advanced to the Western Conference playoffs for the first time since 2018, doing so in perhaps the most harrowing way possible.

New Orleans saw a large lead evaporate in the middle portion of the game, with the Clippers winning the third quarter 38-18, but the Pelicans won the fourth 31-17.

From 1-12 to becoming one of eight playoff teams in the West. From one of the league’s worst records in November to one of its most promising squads after the All-Star break. New Orleans punctuated a stunning in-season turnaround, with the eighth playoff berth in franchise history undoubtedly the most unlikely.

“Our guys are great,” head coach Willie Green said of his players, after being asked about the team overcoming a lot to get in the playoffs. “That’s how you withstand tough times, with character. We have extremely high-character individuals in our organization. It’s been a joy to go after it with them.”

The Pelicans will open their first-round playoff series at top-seeded Phoenix on Sunday night.

Jonas Valanciunas threw down a dunk to give New Orleans a four-point lead in the final 10 seconds, followed by the Clippers misfiring twice from three-point range in a desperate attempt to get the margin back to one possession. Pelicans players celebrated their fourth win of this season in five tries on the Crypto.com hardwood, with Friday’s being a monumental one.

Two former Lakers very familiar with the venue formerly known as Staples Center turned in excellent performances, with Brandon Ingram starting fast and carrying the offense for stretches, while Larry Nance Jr. was ultra-valuable off the bench. Ingram pushed New Orleans into a rapid lead by scoring 16 points in the opening quarter, sinking repeated mid-range jumpers en route to a 30-point night. Nance has been stellar since debuting for the Pelicans less than a month ago, but came up with his biggest contribution yet, squeezing 14 points and 16 rebounds (seven on offense) into only 24 minutes of action.

65, 52: Foul shooting percentages for the Clippers and Pelicans. Both teams were poor at the stripe, but that essentially canceled itself out. An above average night from either might’ve swung the game firmly in one direction.

10-2: New Orleans record since the All-Star break when Ingram plays.

11: Pelicans players on the roster who’ve never appeared in an NBA playoff game in their career (the list includes three rookies who’ll now get there in their first opportunity). Ingram, Willy Hernangomez and Devonte’ Graham have all been in the league at least four seasons and are set to debut this month.

After combining for 81 points Wednesday vs. San Antonio, NOLA’s three leading scorers on the season were far less efficient as a group against a Clippers defense that clamped down after giving up 30 first-quarter points. Still, with Ingram going 14/21, the trio of he, Valanciunas and CJ McCollum nearly made it to 50 percent at 26/54, though the latter two struggled from the field.

LA looked sluggish and a step behind in the first half, but that didn’t last. Overall though, the Clippers only had one big offensive quarter and barely cleared the century mark, so a good night for the NOLA defense.

Clippers reserves Norman Powell and Robert Covington were big factors, but so were Nance and Trey Murphy III on the Pelicans’ side. The benches played roughly to a draw production-wise, but Murphy bagged three fourth-quarter three-pointers (among 14 second-half points) and Nance came up huge all night.

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Play-in postgame wrap: No. 9 Pelicans 105, No. 8 Clippers 101

CJ McCollum was pouring in the points, as was Brandon Ingram and Jonas Valanciunas. Rookie guard Jose Alvarado was draining threes from deep, while fellow first-year pro Herbert Jones was a menace on defense, blocking shots and stealing the ball.

With the season on the line Wednesday in an elimination game vs. San Antonio, New Orleans displayed many of the reasons the Pelicans reached the Western Conference postseason in the first place, overwhelming the Spurs for much of the first three quarters. San Antonio mounted a fourth-quarter comeback to get as close as six points on the scoreboard, before the hosts put it away in crunch time.

In front of 18,610 fans constantly at high volume, New Orleans earned a trip to Los Angeles to face the Clippers on Friday. The winner of that play-in tournament finale will punch a ticket to the West playoffs and a quarterfinal best-of-seven series against Phoenix.

“It was so loud in there, we could barely hear each other,” head coach Willie Green said of the Smoothie King Center. “That was playoff-atmosphere type basketball. We’re proud of our guys. They responded, played hard and competed for 48 minutes.”

San Antonio came up empty from the field during a critical stretch of fourth-quarter possessions, preventing the Spurs from cutting further into their deficit. Ingram’s tough contested layup with under two minutes remaining gave New Orleans a 105-95 lead as the home crowd began to celebrate. Jones later brought everyone out of their seats with a high-flying dunk to make it a 12-point edge.

At one stage Wednesday, McCollum drained nine consecutive shots from the field, one shy of his career high over nine seasons as a pro. His 27 first-half points helped power New Orleans to an 11-point lead. He totaled 32 points on 12/23 shooting, including 3/5 accuracy from three-point distance.

McCollum combined with Ingram (27 points) and Valanciunas (22 points) to score 81 points on 32/56 shooting.

1/6: New Orleans start from three-point range. The hosts then drained five in a row, including a pair by Jones. The Pelicans were getting outscored significantly by the Spurs in this category early but finished 8/20 (40 percent).

12: Speaking of three-point shooting, Alvarado’s 3/4 game from deep was a big spark in the first half. He tallied 12 points in 22 minutes, with fans starting a “Jose!” chant in the fourth quarter as he shot a free throw.

66-53: New Orleans scoring edge in the middle quarters, expanding the margin from four to 17.

Murray effectively took himself out of the first half due to foul trouble, scoring just four points on 1/5 shooting. Jones kept hounding Murray, who shot just 5/19 in a frustrating 16-point night.

New Orleans played up to its deserved season-long reputation as an elite rebounding team, controlling the glass. The Pelicans led 24-14 in boards at halftime and nearly won the second half by a double-digit margin as well, at 29-20, for an overall 53-34 edge.

Two University of Alabama products made their NBA postseason debuts, both as starters. For New Orleans, Jones was his usual force on defense, but added double-digit points and other goodies. San Antonio’s Josh Primo, the NBA’s youngest player at 19, had a scoreless evening.

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Panzura play-in postgame wrap: No. 9 Pelicans 113, No. 10 Spurs 103

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