The Phoenix Suns completed the back-to-back sweep of the New Orleans Pelicans after Saturday night’s 123-114 win. <\/p>\n
The Suns move to 18-13 on the season after their consecutive wins at Smoothie King Center both Friday and tonight. They now lead the season series over New Orleans 3-0. <\/p>\n
Sparks flew late in the third quarter as Jose Alvarado and Mark Williams were ejected for fighting. <\/p>\n
Devin Booker led the Suns with 20 points while Phoenix shot 45% from three-point land. They led by as much as 13 in New Orleans. <\/p>\n
Quick recap:<\/p>\n
First Quarter<\/p>\n
After getting down early initially, the Suns went on a quick 8-0 run to take their first lead of the night, causing Pelicans coach James Borrego to use a timeout. <\/p>\n
Phoenix managed a small lead throughout much of the first quarter — though it was New Orleans who carried a 33-32 lead after the opening 12 minutes. <\/p>\n
Trey Murphy led all scorers with 11 points. New Orleans shot just 35% from the floor despite having the lead. <\/p>\n
Second Quarter<\/p>\n
The Suns saw their largest lead of the first half after establishing a 40-34 lead. Collin Gillespie was a major reason for Phoenix holding a lead, as he made his first four three-point attempts.<\/p>\n
In fact, the Suns as a team began the night 11-21 from downtown. <\/p>\n
It wasn’t long before their lead exploded past double digits, as Phoenix entered the locker room up 65-55. <\/p>\n
The Suns had 24 second-chance points in the first half while Gillespie led all scorers with 15 points. Phoenix also collected an eye-opening 36 rebounds in the opening two quarters. <\/p>\n
Third Quarter<\/p>\n
The Pelicans managed to hit a quick 8-0 run to begin the third, forcing Jordan Ott to call a quick timeout. <\/p>\n
The Suns regrouped and carried a seven-point lead to the next TV timeout despite six turnovers in the first six minutes of the quarter. <\/p>\n
In a bit of a surprise, Dillon Brooks picked up his first foul with 5:06 left in the third — and yet it wasn’t Brooks who was ejected for fighting Jose Alvarado, as Mark Williams was with just a few minutes left in the third. <\/p>\n