When Chris Paul dished out his 10,366th career assist tonight, the crowd behind him roared, but not as loudly as one might think. Their Phoenix Suns currently found themselves down on the lowly New Orleans Pelicans, souring the mood in Footprint Arena to a certain degree.
The Suns played sloppy ball to begin the contest, which almost exclusively led to their slow start against the Zion and Ingram-less Pelicans, as they ended the first half with a disgusting 14 turnovers. The Pelicans danced on them with ease, which felt embarrassing to say the least.
But thankfully, things eventually turned around, which allowed Paul to celebrate his historic achievement properly.
Fueled by some much improved defense down the stretch, the Suns climbed back into this one, chipping away toward the third quarter’s closing moments, before seizing the lead a few minutes into the fourth. They never looked back after that, eventually putting together a 112-100 final score which made the game look far less contested than in actuality.
Regardless, the affair allowed Phoenix to earn their third victory this season and reach the .500 mark. Amidst Phoenix’s weak start this year, this win eases the pressure on the team right now, especially with a similarly ugly loss to the Sacramento Kings still visible in the rear view mirror.
At the same time, this come-from-behind effort also revealed a great deal about this year’s Suns squad. Rigorous games like this one often do that for unproven teams. Emerging through the turbulence, these three takeaways came to light.