Suns vs Pelicans Takeaways: Phoenix earns much-needed win to cap road trip

Suns finish West Road Trip 3-2 with their win over Pelicans.

Another pyrotechnic-like Booker bucket barrage set the tone in New Orleans. That was accompanied by, and maybe even sparked into, by way of consistent defense in process and execution for a Phoenix Suns win, 124-111.

This Pelicans team, though sans Brandon Ingram, had won 10 of their 14 games, with the third best net (+8.6) and defensive rating (107.2) spanning their March slate

Here’s a few of my quick-hitting takeaways from their matchup with

1.) Bayou Book

Devin Booker has now scored 50+ points in three consecutive matchups against the New Orleans Pelicans, including two this season — in New Orleans.

He’d finish this one with 52 points and a hyper-efficient True Shooting Percentage of 83.9%.

As noted in the opening, this is against a New Orleans team that has been one of the more scrappy and active bunches across the league post-All-Star Break, especially through March — with tons of familiarity against Booker in particular.

He was in one of those free-flowing spaces where he had a concise and direct counter to all that he saw from the Pelicans, and the creativity in execution to keep them at bay.

11-for-12 from two, 8-for-16 from three, and just three free throws (so still fairly ethical too…).

Additionally, his nine assists that compiled for 22 points means that he accounted for 74 of Phoenix’s 124 points, 60% of their offense.

He is a fire starter, and the 24-point first quarter alone, where he knocked down 5-of-7 from three, all but ensured he would finally kick down the wall that held him back from making more than six in a game, leaving him with 36 minutes to accomplish the feat.

He operates as the centric piece for gravity, wasn’t stuck solely in stagnant on-ball creation, blended in transition opportunities by way of the aforementioned sustained level defensively, and showed a sense of urgency appropriate for their place in the standings and the point in the season.

2.) Sustained Defensive Output

Phoenix held New Orleans to what ties for their third-lowest three-point rate post-All-Star Break, which was accompanied by a middling 98.8 offensive rating in the halfcourt.

The Suns were loaded in the gaps and helped by the right guys, and even though there were certainly stretches where mistakes were compiled that hurt them, they were better in making those stretches somewhat short-lived and responding to offset, even more.

The defense on Zion was as it needed to be most of the night, in respect to all that I spoke on in the pregame preview, as well as disciplined rotations out to their shooters to run guys off the three-point line, funnel in to help, and rotate out.

It was a connected effort on that end, and as mentioned, a process that — though end results could vary — is a repeatable one when the efforts, attention to detail, and communication all show up in unison.

3.) Nurkić Continues Solid Play

The Suns have a roster full of players and pieces that make more highlight-worthy contributions, louder box score impact, and generally catch the eye of viewers.

Underneath that, and holding as much value to all that they do independent of the big three, is the ancillary play of Nurkić, on a near nightly basis.

Was (again) a game-high +19 and his 19 rebounds, which matched his 19 points, speak to the impact he stamped in the paint.

Whether it was timely help and rim protection defensively, or connecting from the short-roll to keep offensive flow, or box outs inside to garner extra possessions, Nurkić remained involved and impactful upon their process.

His high-IQ processing of angles on both ends of the floor often allows him to see happenings even the slightest bit quicker, allowing for his mind to help to offset some of his athletic deficiencies in many contexts.

That IQ brought to the fold for the Suns is invaluable, and with it coming from the center positioning in connecting everything, is as apt as can be.

Against a team like New Orleans, there is often a crowd being played in the paint, on both ends of the floor.

To have navigated it to the tune of 19 rebounds, in a playoff-style setting, speaks to the values to come from him as these games grow more important.

His play is a barometer of sorts to the level of play the team is operating at, and though he certainly has flaws, the functionality of his strengths and consistencies allows for him to still have an efficient impact on the game as a chess piece within all that is the Phoenix Suns.

4.) Shot Profile and Assists Continued Correlation

As the sample grows, stats I have spoken on that serve as a barometer for how the Suns are operating on a game-by-game basis continue to hold true.

They finished this one with 29 assists (average 27 on the season, 11th most) and 47 three-point attempts (average 32.4 on the season, the 7th least — though they’re at 35.0 attempts post-All-Star, ranking 17th which is a sizeable jump for them).

When they finish north of their average in assists, they’re 29-9.

When south of that, they’re 12-21. When directly at it, they’re 3-1.

When they finish north of 30 attempts from deep, they’re 30-17.

When south of that, they’re 13-12. When at it, they’re 1-2.

It isn’t directly about the numbers, but rather that the numbers are indicative often of when the team is optimizing the pieces on the roster and in the process — with the movement of both players and the ball in a blend — versus when they revert to the ball sticking, players standing and watching, and bailing defenses out by way of it all.

Hat tip again to Bradley Beal for his selfless contributions, sacrificing plenty of offense in the short-term as Durant and Booker have gotten it going in scoring, to provide value in initiating offense, starting advantages, and being a chess piece defensive from the point of attack on some nights, to having the initial assignment in scheme on Williamson — tasked with containing the catch and first dribble before support arrives. He is the integral piece that’s bought into a role to make this team work.

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Up next: the start of a four-game homestand kicks off Wednesday night with a matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

They’re 2-5 over the last two weeks with a non-garbage time net of -9.6 and play the Jazz in Utah on Tuesday night.