Game Recap: Suns bounce back with big win over Zion-less New Orleans Pelicans

The Suns snapped a three-game losing streak against the shorthanded Pels.

​​ The Suns were in the news on Friday, but not for the right reason.

Phoenix head coach Mike Budenholzer reportedly told the franchise star, Devin Booker, to tone down his voice. The Suns need it more now than they may have ever needed it.

Coming off a staggering eight-point loss on Thursday to the Pelicans, Phoenix (28-32) snapped a three-game losing streak by beating New Orleans (16-44) on the second night of a back-to-back, 125-108 at PHX Arena.

Now, we have plenty to discuss, for good reason.

Stat leaders

• Bol Bol — 25 PTS (9-of-12 FG), career high five 3-pointers, 3 REB, 2 AST
• Nick Richards — 19 PTS (8-of-11 FG), 12 REB
• Devin Booker — 17 PTS (6-of-13 FG, 3-of-9 3-point FG), 9 AST
• Kevin Durant — 17 PTS (7-of-10 FG), 6 AST, 3 STL

Game Flow

First Half

I said in this game the Suns need a hot start to make the playoffs and win most of their remaining games. They got just that.

Leading 13-9, the Suns went on a 7-0 run to take a 20-6 lead with 6:50 to go in the period. They later had a 13-0 spurt to go up 40-18 by the end of the period.

Devin Booker had three assists in the first and four at halftime.

Kevin Durant, who said last night he needs to be better, played the entire first quarter, recording nine points and three assists. Royce O’Neale tallied six points off the bench.

Phoenix’s first quarter included a very hot start from forward Bol Bol, who has been the team’s best story recently. He had 10 points while making 5-of-6 field goals.

The Suns won the first quarter, 40 to 18, putting New Orleans away early. Phoenix made 16-of-22 field goals, including 6-of-10 from three. Incredibly, the Suns only had two turnovers.

Then, they had six in the second quarter. Yes, the Suns reared their ugly heads again. Three of them were from Ryan Dunn.

The Suns – thankfully – were still up by 21 at halftime. Phoenix’s turnover problem needs to be fixed for it to qualify for the play-in.

New Orleans shot 10-of-27 from the field, including 2-of-7 from three. Eight of their 24 second-quarter points came from the Suns’ giveaways.

Second Half

Phoenix needed to keep going. Even though it had a large lead, New Orleans still had an opportunity.

The Suns have struggled to close games most of the year. That did not deter them on Friday.

The Suns had little trouble closing out the short-handed Pels. Without Zion and CJ McCollum, New Orleans’ offense was severely bad. The Pelicans shot 44-of-87 for the game and 11-of-28 from three. However, they were 15-of-18 in the fourth quarter, making their percentage better. The Suns did not have Bradley Beal and could have won this game by even more.

Offensively, the Suns continued to take apart an opponent that could not defend them. Phoenix made five threes in the third quarter and 21 for the game.

Here are the Suns’ final stats:

Up Next

The Suns will have an opportunity to take away some of the embarrassment from last season’s playoff dud of a series against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Sunday’s tip is at 7:30 p.m. at PHX Arena.

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