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NEW ORLEANS — It was far more competitive than anyone expected, but the top-seeded Phoenix Suns closed out the New Orleans Pelicans with a 115-109 win in Game 6 on Thursday.
Despite trailing by 10 points at halftime and playing in front of another roaring crowd at the Smoothie King Center, the reigning Western Conference finalists put away a scrappy Pelicans side that hardly looked like a normal 8-seed.
Chris Paul dominated in the building he used to call home, Devin Booker made his return from a nine-day absence from his hamstring injury and Jae Crowder got the last laugh, but there was so much more to Thursday’s proceedings. Here are five lasting observations from an eventful Game 6.
1. What Chris Paul is doing at age 36 defies logic
This wasn’t the first time over the last two years that the Suns got to watch Chris Paul close out an opponent with a magnificent performance. Hell, it wasn’t even the first time they watched him do it in this series (see Game 1 and Game 3). But as he approaches his 37th birthday next week, Thursday’s masterclass was nothing short of remarkable, even by his Hall-of-Fame standards.
Finishing with a game-high 33 points, 8 assists and 5 rebounds, Paul put up yet another gaudy stat line in a closeout game for the Suns. But he also made history in the process, accounting for the most points (33) and made field goals (14) without missing a single shot in NBA playoff history.
That’s right: Paul went a perfect 13-for-13 on 2s, 1-for-1 on 3-pointers, and as if that weren’t enough, he went 4-for-4 from the foul line too. He had already broken the record by going 13-for-13, but then he threw in a 14th for good measure, putting Phoenix up by five with 29 seconds remaining.
“I just know that great players have a knack for that,” coach Monty Williams said of his ability to take over games. “They know when to and when not to. The game slows down for them slower than it does for everybody else, and there’s not many situations Chris Paul has been in that are going to startle him at all. There’s a trust factor between he and I when it comes to play calls down the stretch in certain environments. He’ll relay something to me, and I’ll be like, ‘Go with it,’ and he just does his thing.”
Paul only had 10 points on 4-of-4 shooting at halftime. In Game 1, it was Jamal Crawford who told CP3 to be more aggressive. In Game 3, it was an injured Booker. This time, around the second quarter, it was Paul himself who told Williams he needed to be more aggressive.
“I told coach, I said, ‘I’m gonna get aggressive,'” Paul recalled. “I told him that, and then coming out in the third quarter, I sort of saw how the game was going. I think we was down 10, so I knew I had to try to sort of force the issue.”
Despite starting Cam Johnson in Booker’s place to start the second half, the Suns won their first third quarter of the series by 7 points, thanks in large part to Paul’s 13-point, 6-of-6 barrage. Then he chipped in a 10-point, 4-assist fourth quarter to close things out, finishing as a game-high +17.
“It gives you the utmost confidence playing alongside him, knowing he’s gonna take care of the ball and knowing the ball is going to find the right person, on time, on target,” Booker said. “So that’s a lot of confidence, especially down the stretch when it’s a close game.”
After a regular season that saw him cede shots to Booker, Mikal Bridges, Deandre Ayton and the rest of his teammates, it was easy to question if Paul could still flip the switch in a playoff setting in Year 17. This series — with Booker missing Games 3-5 and still not 100 percent in Game 6 — proved the answer is a resounding “yes.”
For the series, Paul averaged 22.3 points, 11.3 assists and 4.3 rebounds per game on 57.6 percent shooting. His fourth-quarter numbers were nothing short of his usual Point God standards:
“I think how locked in he was on the offensive end of making plays for himself and for others, it was the highest it’s been all year,” Crowder said. “He just sees the opportunity. It was an opportunity in front of us to close these guys out, and he did a great job of doing his half of helping us get this game. You see he went perfect from the field, he led us, put us in sets, got us organized when things was a little hectic, and he did what he’s supposed to do.”
2. Suns managed Devin Booker’s return well
Three hours before game time, Booker was still listed as out due to his Grade 1 hamstring strain. The Suns upgraded him to questionable about two hours before tipoff, and then Williams confirmed he’d be playing not long after that.
For Booker, those nine days on the sidelines undoubtedly felt like a lifetime, especially after the Pelicans scratched and clawed their way to victory in Games 2 and 4. But for all the concern about him rushing back given the state of the series, Book reaffirmed that he was good to go.
“Really just making sure my body was ready,” he said. “I was confident in it, I tested it, got some good work in yesterday. I knew the adrenaline was gonna kick in, and it was time to go..”
Based on his first-half performance, overall shot selection and how he only logged 32 minutes in a closeout game, Booker clearly isn’t 100 percent yet. He had just 2 points on 1-of-4 shooting at the break, three of those four attempts were from 3-point range late in the shot clock, and he wasn’t attacking with his usual verve.
When Williams told him that Johnson would start in his place for the third quarter, Booker was less than pleased. Fortunately, it preserved him for a big second half.
“I thought we were gonna have a fistfight over there, the look he gave me,” Williams laughed. “We had already talked about it, but we had to stick to the plan because it was going to be easier to finish with him and keep his minutes relatively lower. Now, I played him about eight more minutes than I wanted to. We wanted to keep him at about 24.
“But I was just watching him, and he didn’t look like he was dragging it or laboring at all, and there wasn’t many transition opportunities where he was the guy flying, where you may have to push that thing too far. And he told me, he said, ‘Coach, I feel fine and strong. I have no issues.’ So I just left him out there.”
Booker chipped in 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting in the second half, finishing his night with 13 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists on 5-of-12 shooting. He only went 1-for-6 from 3-point range, but the one he made in the corner put Phoenix up by two with 1:42 to go.
“He competes his tail off on defense, which he doesn’t get enough credit for, but the shots that he hit in the second half, the pull-up midrange shot, not many people can get to that shot, let alone make the shot,” Williams said. “The 3 in front of our bench, like, that was textbook Book. There was so much attention on Chris, and somebody lost him, and he just did what Book does.”
That type of critical late-game shot was the perfect example of Booker alleviating the attention New Orleans focused on Paul all series.
“All the pressure they’ve been doing all series, especially the last three games, it’s a little bit different when you’ve got him out there on the court,” Paul said. “I think that’s what helped us that last — I don’t know how much time was left, but he was on that left wing, and I don’t know if they forgot, didn’t realize who he was, but I looked over and saw how they was shifted, and that was probably the biggest shot of the game.”
Booker was a +9 in his return, and thanks to Williams’ strategy of saving his legs for later in the game, the Suns were able to close out. Booker’s defense after getting switched onto Brandon Ingram forced a crucial late-game stop, and just having him out there made everybody else’s job just a little bit easier.
“It was great to have him out there,” Crowder said. “Just his presence alone is great for our team, whether he’s 70 percent or 100 percent, I think it’s beneficial for us to have him out there. So he knows what’s ahead of us, and he’s gonna take care of his body and be ready for next series.”
3. Major kudos to Deandre Ayton and Mikal Bridges
If it weren’t for the growth of Deandre Ayton and Mikal Bridges, Phoenix would’ve been in a much worse spot. As their offensive weapons dried up and a deep bench ran out of options, those two youngsters stepped up big-time.
For the series, Ayton put up 20.5 points, 9.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.2 blocks per game on 70 percent shooting. His red-hot first halves were a life-saving buoy in particular, as he averaged 12.8 points and 4.8 rebounds on 75 percent shooting (with a team-high +7.7) in the first two quarters this series.
Even on a night where Paul made NBA history, Williams brought up three separate times, unprompted, how big it was for DA to go 10-for-12 in a closeout game.
As for Bridges, who was coming off a historic performance in his own right, Game 6 was a quieter affair. Even so, he put up 18 points on a tidy 7-of-12 shooting, once again making life hell for Ingram and CJ McCollum.
There was no better example than the steal he got on McCollum, leading to an easy dunk that put the Suns up by four with 1:28 to go. Williams said it’s the exact type of play Bridges has been making since the NBA bubble, when his deflection on the final possession against the LA Clippers set up Booker’s infamous game-winner.
“He’s just one of those rare, high-energy, highly effective defenders that can also be productive on offense at a high level,” Williams said. “We thought we were going to take his head off when he went under on Ingram in the corner and Ingram got the 3. He didn’t want to look at the bench because he knew that was the wrong read, but then he comes right back and gets a steal and converts on that. That’s Mikal.”
To be fair though, apparently DA played an equal role on that game-changing steal too.
“DA let us know in the locker room, we was telling ‘Kal that it was a big steal, and DA was like, that was his steal,” Paul said with a laugh. “But that was probably the biggest play of in the game.”
For the series, Bridges wound up averaging 17.3 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game on .551/.533/.909 shooting splits. He also held McCollum to 33 points on 13-of-36 shooting (36.1 percent) with 6 turnovers, Ingram to 24 points on 10-of-20 shooting with 6 turnovers, and the Pelicans to 39.5 percent shooting as a team when he was the primary defender.
Coming off a 31-point, 4-block, 12-of-17 shooting performance in Game 5, Bridges joined Ayton in stepping up for a Suns team that needed every bit of production with Booker sidelined. That bodes well for Phoenix as Book returns to full strength again.
4. Suns have plenty of room for improvement in next round
As thrilling as that Point God performance was, and as good as it is to win the series, it was a bit telling the collective reaction seemed to be a sigh of relief. This wasn’t your typical 8-seed, but the Pelicans managed to bring out the worst in the Suns in this matchup.
Booker or no Booker, they’ll need to be better moving forward…especially when it comes to sustaining championship levels of energy and focus.
“We talked at halftime about the spirit of our team,” Williams said. “I had a few personal things to say, but personal to the team about, [the Pelicans] were playing with their heart and just playing harder than us. It was like, every time we win a game in the series, the next game, we come into it and we just didn’t have the same juice. And it was like, enough’s enough.”
That’s not exactly encouraging for a Suns team that won 64 games by outworking and out-executing their opponents all season long. Williams touched on a recurring pattern where the Suns got a bit of breathing room with a win, then got complacent and took a shot to the mouth for it.
Aside from the shooting struggles of guys like Jae Crowder (33.3 percent, 3-for-26 from 3) and Cam Payne (31 percent, 3-for-18 from 3), the offensive rebounding battle was embarrassing. The Pelicans’ 90 offensive rebounds led to 107 second-chance points.
“They showed us a couple clips at halftime where their energy and effort…I think everybody came into halftime and realized how much Larry Nance had impacted the game,” Paul said. “[Jose] Alvarado, we knew he was gonna be picking up high energy, he’s a fan favorite. He played hard, but it wasn’t enough. We had to match that energy.”
The Suns gave up an average of 15.0 offensive boards and 17.0 second-chance points per game for the series. The Dallas Mavericks aren’t a threat in this aspect of the game, but there’s plenty to improve on moving forward. Phoenix seemed surprised by the talent, work ethic and desperation of their scrappy first-round opponent, and they can’t make that mistake again.
“You would expect a series like this later on in the playoffs, but I think there’s so much parity in the league now,” Williams said. “You can’t walk into a first-round series without keeping your left up. You better keep your left up and duck, because teams are throwing punches right out the gate.”
5. The “F**k Jae Crowder” saga reaches its perfect conclusion
After a “F**k Chris Paul” chant broke out late in Game 3, the people of New Orleans realized the error of their ways. But they certainly weren’t done with that chant outline either, shifting it instead to Crowder.
After hearing “F**k Jae Crowder” chants in Games 3 and 4, a few Pelicans fans decided to take it a step further for Game 6:
Whatever reaction those courtside fans were hoping to get from Suns players while they warmed up, they certainly didn’t get it.
Upon being asked by the fans, “What do you think of our shirts?” and then offered a handshake, Suns assistant Jarrett Jack — a former New Orleans star during his playing days — told them he wouldn’t shake their hands with those shirts on.
JaVale McGee had more choice words, telling them, “That’s some p***y s**t.”
When Jack bet the fans that security would make them take the shirts off, the fans said they brought extras just in case. After his pregame routine, Booker sent Jack on mission to find the shirts, which he did. He delivered one to a grinning Booker, who happily trotted off back to the locker room with new bulletin board material in tow.
“I actually seen all the red shirts out when I was warming up, I looked over and I spotted it,” Booker recapped. “And then the people that left had brought them, and then I sent J-Jack on a mission. He went and they had ’em under the seat. So I thought they only had two, but they had like eight, so I was like, ‘I’m gonna take a couple of these.'”
Crowder had to find a way to explain to his younger daughter earlier in the series why fans were chanting expletives at her father, going with, “It’s all fun and games, it’s all competition, but they really love your daddy!” He was once again regaled with “F**k Jae Crowder” chants in Game 6, only this time, he got the last laugh during the game:
And then after the game:
“I’m embracing it right now,” Crowder said postgame. “It was a great crowd, great atmosphere on the road. Tough, tough environment, but it was great to come out with a win, especially on the road. And I’m glad I could put the shirt on with a smile right now.”
Booker, who also showed up to his postgame presser in a “F**k Jae Crowder” shirt, put his own spin on it.
“It’s really a beautiful thing, man, it’s respect at its highest level,” he said with a tiny smirk. “I’ve never been an entertainer or performer, but having 15-20,000 people chant your name, that’s pretty impressive. So good for Jae, people that didn’t know his name before they went to the game know it now.”
So what will Crowder do with the shirts? Aside from selling a few autographed ones on his website, of course.
“I’m gonna take it home,” he said with a grin. “Put ’em in a case, sign it.”
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