New Orleans Pelicans pulled off a dazzling victory over the top-seeded Phoenix Suns with a 118-103 win on Sunday that evened the series at 2-2 in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs.
Now the no. 8 seed Pelicans proved that they are capable of pulling off an upset in the series with their tenacity as a young team that started the season 3-16.
Brandon Ingram scored 16 of his 30 points in the third quarter to help the Pelicans even the first-round series with the Suns, who were playing minus their injured star Devin Booker, according to a report from The NBA's website.
Pelicans Head Coach Willie Green was impressed with Ingram's outstanding performance.
''Brandon is playing some of his best basketball of the season, and he's doing it on the biggest stage, and it's great to see,'' Green said.
The Pelicans' Time Has Come
Ingram believes that, with the hard work that they exerted to develop into a better team, the time has come for the Pelicans to soar.
''My teammates put me in the right spots and are making me look good,' the star forward said.
With 26 points and 15 rebounds, Jonas Valanciunas reasserted himself in the center. While rookie guard Herb Jones, a defensive guard, played suffocating defense against Phoenix superstar point guard Chris Paul.
Paul was restricted to four points in 35 minutes after scoring 19 points in each of the Suns' two playoff wins. While he had 11 assists, he also had three turnovers.
Deandre Ayton led the Suns with 23 points and eight rebounds, while JaVale McGee contributed 14 points.
Brandon Ingram was LIGHTS OUT in the @PelicansNBA Game 4 victory to even the series at 2-2, dropping 30 points for the 3rd straight game!@B_Ingram13: 30 PTS, 4 REB, 5 AST
— NBA (@NBA) April 25, 2022
Game 5: Tue. 10pm/et on TNT pic.twitter.com/hD5EJLBGFw
The Pelicans led 89-85 with 8:05 left and used a 12-0 run to ice it. Valanciunas, limited to six points in a Game 3 loss, scored 10 points in a 3:34 span of the fourth quarter to help the Pelicans pull away. He punctuated his scoring spree with a 3-pointer from the left-wing.
Paul Struggled So Bad
Chris Paul has taken over the game in the fourth quarter twice in this series, leading the Suns to victories in Games 1 and 3 with precise execution during crunch time.
On Sunday, though, there was no such marvel. Paul had one of his poorest postseason performances, scoring four points on two of eight shooting and dishing out 11 assists, per CBS Sports report.
His four points, 25 % field goal percentage, zero 3-point attempts, and zero free throws were all the lowest in his playoff career stats.
As Fansided predicted, the Pelicans made some adjustments, particularly on the defensive end, to slow down Paul, considered one of the all-time best point guards, from getting his go-to spots and setting up his teammates for wide-open shots.
With Booker still sidelined due to a hamstring injury, Paul cannot simply afford to have this inferior performance if the Suns want to take down the Pelicans. He needs to activate his superb playmaking skills (a.k.a. "Point God" mode) needed to bolster the team's offense to overcome the pesky Pelicans.
The two teams will battle for a pivotal Game 5, which will be played in Phoenix on Tuesday night.
