Game Recap: CJ McCollum, Zion, and the Pelicans too much as they beat the Suns 113-105

The Phoenix Suns battled the New Orleans Pelicans for the second time in under a week on Sunday afternoon, but the result was not the same for the Suns as last Monday. Phoenix has their chances, but poor shooting and execution down the stretch equated to a 113-105 loss.

Zion Williamson had 29 points, including 12 in the fourth. CJ McCollum had 31 points as he was hot early, hitting 7 of his 12 three-point attempts. The Suns were led by Bradley Beal and his 33 points, 15 of which came in the fourth. It was an off night for Durant shooting-wise, as he went 8-of-22 from the field. Grayson Allen was 3-of-10 from deep.

The loss drops the Suns to 46-32 on the season, but due to them holding the tiebreaker with the Pelicans, they still hold on to the 6th seed.

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Game Flow

First Half

The Pelicans started the game with some butterfingers, turning the ball over 4 times in the first 4 minutes with 4 different players committing the turnovers. The Suns’ defense appeared to carry over the effort we witnessed against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday. It only led to 3 points for the Suns, however.

Both teams struggled from the field to start as, through the first six minutes, they combined for 7-of-24 (29.1%). Despite a solid defensive effort, the Suns led 9-8 halfway through the quarter.

The Suns hit the Pelicans with a quick 9-0 run behind three-pointers from Grayson Allen, KD, and an and-one by Booker. A transition dunk by Durant, who was 1-of-6 prior, made it 11-0 and a 20-8 lead.

Jusuf Nurkic took a hard hit on the Suns’ baseline, hitting the ground and taking a moment to get up. The Suns were amidst substitutions, but he did limp off of the court.

Phoenix held New Orleans to 19 points in the first, with CJ McCollum accounting for 10 of them. They shot 36.4% from the field and 27.3% from deep. The Suns didn’t have the best shooting quarter either, making 37.0% of their field goals. But ball security mattered as the Suns had only 1 turnover compared to the Pelicans’ 6.

After one, Suns 26, Pelis 19.

Nurkic started the second quarter, settling our stomachs from any worry of injury. Grayson Allen continued his career year by grabbing his 271st rebound of the year in the second quarter, the highest total he has ever amassed.

A nice transition dunk by Bol Bol off of a Royce O’Neale steal pushed the Suns’ lead to 12 points with 9 minutes left in the half.

The Pelicans stormed back, however, tying the game 36-36 after a 12-0 run capped off by a Trey Murphy three-pointer. CJ McCollum continued his hot shooting, scoring 11 points in the quarter on 4-of-5 shooting and 3-of-4 from deep. He led all scorers with 21 points at the half.

Physicality began to rear its head in the second as the Pelicans began to push and pull. Joe Alvarado, who has made a living being an irritant, was poking and prodding. After a foul by Herb Jones on Kevin Durant, Alvarado inserted himself into the conversation.

Alavardo was 3-of-4 from deep in the quarter and was part of the run that put the Pelicans in front. He had 12 points off of the bench in the half, which was more than all Suns’ bench players combined.

New Orleans shot 60.9% in the quarter, going 8-of-13 from three-point range. The Suns had 7 turnovers in the quarter which led to 10 Pelicans points. Devin Booker led Phoenix in scoring with 11 in the half, but being outscored 37-24 in the second quarter meant the Suns would go to the locker room behind.

Pelicans 56, Suns 50.

Second Half

New Orleans popped a 6-0 on Phoenix to start the third quarter, pushing their lead to 12 points. Willie Green opted to go with a more athletic lineup, sitting Jonas Valančiūnas and going with Larry Nance, Jr. It paid off as Jusuf Nurkic was having a horrible time on the interior trying to keep up with the Nance and Dyson Daniels.

And then there was CJ. The Suns were still having issues with their rotations and were allowing him to take wide-open three-pointers. He continued to make them.

Bradley Beal was the Suns’ primary source of scoring in the front end of the third. His 8 points kept Phoenix within an arm's length of the efficient Pelicans. His two three-pointers were much needed as the Suns were having issues for negating New Orleans’ offense.

The Suns got it to within 3 points after a Zion Williamson turnover that was converted into points by Grayson Allen with 5:06 left.

Tempers flared with 1:13 left after an offensive foul on Devin Booker against Zion. Dyson Daniels pushed him, and when Booker pushed back, Jose Alvarado zoomed into the fray. Booker, Daniels, and Alvarado were all it with technical fouls.

The Pelicans bench continued to provide more reproduction, outscoring the Suns 13-0 in the third. Their 4-of-9 shooting from three allowed them to outscore Phoenix 34-33 in the quarter. New Orleans ended on an 11-5 run, giving them a 90-83 lead heading into the final quarter.

Brad Beal jump-started the Suns in the fourth, scoring 8 quick points to cut the lead to 2 points. Two three-pointers pushed his point total to 26 on the night.

Beal then tied the game at 93-93 with an 18-foot jumper with 8:35 left, accounting for all of the Suns’ Q4 points. He gave the Suns the lead with a three-pointer, his 15th point of the quarter.

New Orleans responded with an 8-0 run of their own. Let the fun begin.

Zion Williamson was flying around on the defensive end, and his fourth block of the game set a new career high for the former 1st overall pick out of Duke.

He got his fifth block on a KD attempt moments later as he aggressively deleted Durant’s shot.

Phoenix didn’t have enough firepower down the stretch to gain any momentum back. They closed the gap to 4 points, but Zion and the Pelicans were just a tad too much. Suns lose, 113-105.

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Up Next

The final home game of the regular season is on Tuesday as the Suns host the Los Angeles Clippers. This isn’t the same Clippers squad that mopped the floor with Phoenix in early January. Should be a good one! We shall see you then!