NEW ORLEANS – Zion Williamson capped off New Orleans’ 128-117 victory over Phoenix with an electrifying 360-degree dunk as time expired that sent the crowd of 16,381 at the Smoothie King Center into a wild frenzy .
Suns goaltender Cameron Payne didn’t appreciate Williamson’s late-game display.
“The game was over,” Payne said. “There was no shot clock. They can hold the ball.”
Even Williamson admitted what he did was out of character, but it looks like he got caught up in the moment on his 35-point night.
“But you have to understand it, maybe you won’t. They sent my teammates home last year,” Williamson said. “…But that wasn’t my character. If they did the same, I wouldn’t mind.”
Problems ensued, however.
Chris Paul and Jose Alvarado got into it first.
“I don’t know, I don’t know, man,” Paul said when asked why Alvarado attacked him.
Pelicans coach Willie Green initially broke, but the dust turned into a back-and-forth that even saw Green and Kevin Young, once on the same staff under Monty Williams in Phoenix, exchange words.
Young was back after being out three games under health and safety protocols.
Jock Landale and Naji Marshall were yelling at each other.
CJ McCollum and Bismack Biyombo were retained.
Then, as the situation calmed down, Alvarado returned to have even more words for Paul as Paul looked to leave the field.
“He has something with C,” Payne said. “He’s just trying to reach C.”
And Deandre Ayton missed it all as he left the field just after the game, but took no offense to Williamson’s final dunk.
“It’s a homecourt,” Ayton said. “He’s doing it for his fans. I don’t take any of it personally. I worry about the post-game when it counts.”
The Pelicans (17-8) left the floor to a standing ovation as the Suns (16-10) lost their third straight one-night game. 112.
“Just try to make the best decision for the team and for him,” Williams said. “I didn’t like the way he was running. Sometimes I have to protect him. We’ll find out what’s going on.”
Booker finished with just 14 points on 5-of-17 shooting. When asked if he was injured, Booker replied, “Yeah, something’s going on, we’ll find out.”
When asked if it was his ankle or something else, Booker again replied, “We’ll find out.”
Both teams already have recent history from last season’s hard-fought opening series which Phoenix won in six. Alvarado got under Paul’s skin, but Paul got the last laugh on his historic 33-point night on 14-of-14 shooting in Game 6 to become the first player in NBA history to score. so many shots from the field without missing.
They entered the game 1-2 in the West with New Orleans holding a half-game lead. The Suns won the season opener at home in October, but New Orleans won the rematch Friday on home soil.
Then the drama ensued.
“That stuff doesn’t bother me at all,” Williams said. “It’s part of basketball. It wasn’t that bad. It was a bunch of guys over there screaming and screaming and not even pushing.”
The two teams already had a pre-playoff connection with Williams having coached in New Orleans, Paul starting his career with and now Green coaches the Pelicans after working as an assistant in Phoenix.
Green and Paul are very close friends and consider each other family.
Then New Orleans, as the eighth seed, gave the first seed all they could handle in the playoffs and Pelicans fans had choice chants for Paul and Jae Crowder.
Booker sees this streak as a big part of what happened on Friday.
“We beat them in the playoffs last year,” Booker said. “It’s probably a sensitive point. I don’t want to overreact. There’s a lot of season left. I think we’re in a position after last year where we obviously want to win as many games as possible, but we have a bigger goal that we’re trying to achieve.”
They’ll see each other in less than 48 hours Sunday at 1:30 p.m. Phoenix time in the same arena where Friday’s result and postgame dust are tied to Game 3.
“Of course,” Suns winger Torrey Craig said. “I think we will. If we weren’t motivated, I think we definitely are now.”
They meet for the fourth and last time on December 17 in Phoenix.
Do you have an opinion on the current state of the Suns? Contact Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on Twitter at @DuaneRankin.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Suns loss to Pelicans ends with Zion Williamson’s 360° drama
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