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Andrew LopezESPN
NEW ORLEANS – On Friday night for three quarters, things were going the way of the New Orleans Pelicans against the Phoenix Suns.
The Pelicans had an 11-point lead in the fourth quarter, and their offense hummed to 102 points in the first 36 minutes. But the games last 48 minutes. And the last 12 were definitely the ones the pelicans would like to forget soon.
The lead evaporated in four minutes. Then, not even four minutes later, the sun had two digits. When the final horn sounded, the Suns happily left the field with a 132-114 victory, while the pelicans headed for their locker room, stunned, trying to figure out what had just happened.
According to research by the Elias Sports Bureau, the 18-point defeat was the highest in the NBA in the shock era (from 1954-55) for a team that entered the fourth quarter with double digits.
So what happened?
“I saw Chris Paul take control of the basketball game,” said Pelican striker Brandon Ingram.
Paul finished with 15 points, 19 assists and was plus-28 in the fourth quarter – and didn’t even play 10 minutes. The veteran guard helped the Suns take control and never looked back.
“The man is orchestrating there. He knows what’s going on on the floor right before it happens,” Suns guard Devin Booker said. “With him, the game is never at hand. The game never ends until the horn sounds. He did a good job of leading us, keeping us calm throughout the game.
“In the fourth quarter, it’s a work of art. The way he chose their defense and made pieces for others and at the same time scored when he had to.”
Paul was three steps ahead of everything the Pelicans wanted to do in the fourth quarter. His 3-point lead over Pelicans goalie Lonzo Ball with 4:41 left felt like the dagger to put New Orleans away. He ran back to the field with his teammates watching him, while Pelicans coach Stan Van Gundy called for a timeout to try to save something in the final minutes.
However, contrary to what social media has suggested at the moment, Paul did not shout “I own this place”.
“I said I know this place, I know this place,” said Paul, who played in New Orleans for the first six seasons of his career. “I know. Yes. I’ve spent some of the best years of my life playing here in New Orleans.”
While the Suns found a way out with the victory, the pelicans remained trying to figure out how they let the game slip.
“Just being in the game, I think we don’t stop a little demoralized in the offensive end,” Ball said. “Seeing them hit 3s back to back, I didn’t get any ball movement or good hits during the fourth quarter. It got worse and worse.”
Apart from the 3-point dam, Phoenix was sending the road to New Orleans, the pelicans became unpleasant with basketball. After committing only seven turnovers in the first three quarters, the Pelicans coughed it six times in the first six minutes, leading to 12 Phoenix points.
It’s an issue that has affected New Orleans this season. With Friday’s loss, New Orleans drops to 12-9 this season in games in which they had a two-digit advantage. This is the biggest loss after leading with two figures in the NBA this season, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.
“The problem is that when chaos happens, we have to figure out how to sit down,” Ingram said. “We have to be able to adapt during the game.
“Whatever the defensive scheme, whatever we want to do in the end offensive to make our team the best team, that’s what we have to do. After these losses, it is frustrating. We don’t have much to say. Coaches don’t have much to say. You just watch the movie and try to be better tomorrow. “
Van Gundy said he doesn’t think his team’s problem is age.
“A lot of teams in this league have such quarters,” Van Gundy said. “I will never throw the young book there. We are a basketball team with really talented people and we didn’t manage to do the job in the fourth quarter.”
However, he called it a “disastrous neighborhood.” And it was. The differential minus-29 points was the largest for pelicans in any quarter of franchise history.
“They hit us with hay at the end, then it flew,” Van Gundy added.
Pelican striker Zion Williamson said there was only one way to deal with such a loss.
“Indeed, the thing for us is to learn from this,” said the 20-year-old. “Honestly, I think that’s the best thing we can do. Learn from that.”