The Phoenix Suns defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 118-114 at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona, on Saturday, to secure their second straight win.

With this victory at home, the Suns set their regular season with the Pelicans at 2-2. The two teams have been building a rivalry since they met in the Western Conference first-round playoffs last season. Despite the 4-2 elimination in the end, the Pelicans, which didn't have Zion Williamson, had a tough series against the Suns.

Williamson returned in the 2022-23 campaign in better health and shape. He had averaged 30.1 points in the seven games in December before Saturday. In order not to get torn into pieces in the paint by his athleticism and power, the Suns chose to double-team Williamson wherever he received the ball, including outside the 3-point line, in the first half.

As a result, Williamson shot 3-for-6 in field goals (FGs) in the first two quarters to get six points, but he delivered four assists. Meanwhile, other Pelicans exploited the Suns' overconcentration on him to score efficiently. CJ McCollum went 10-for-13 from the floor to get 24 points and six assists during that period. Jonas Valanciunas made five of his seven attempts to get 10 points and eight rebounds before sitting on the bench for foul trouble.

Having trailed by 17 points (63-46) after the first half, the Suns couldn't afford to focus and Williamson and leave other Pelicans open anymore. Putting only one defender on Williamson equaled setting him free. The 22-year-old prospect kept charging into the opponents' paint like an oversized bullet train. He shot 9-for-9 from the field in the second half, all under the hoop, to score 24 points five assists for the Pelicans.

As Williamson's dominant performance extended the Pelicans' lead beyond 20 points, Devin Booker stood out for the Suns. He did well by shooting 8-for-13 in FGs to get 22 points for his team in the first half, but that was not enough to keep the franchise from sinking. Therefore, Booker decided further release his offensive power.

Having gone 13-for-22 from the floor, Booker dropped 36 points for the Suns in the third and fourth quarters. It didn't matter who switched to guard him, Booker’s jumpers seemed undeflectable. Only six of the 21 shots he made were downtown. Booker played like an old-school isolation master who either shot to kill in the middle range or drew fouls to go to the free throw line.

58 points are Booker's third-highest score in his career but it's more valuable than the 70 points he got in 2017 and the 59 points he had in 2019, both in defeat. The Suns would have suffered a big loss at home if Booker hadn't performed in the way he did, just like what Kobe Bryant did when he scored 81 points against the Toronto Raptors on January 22, 2006. The Pelicans have a group of elite defenders – Herbert Jones, Jose Alvarado, Larry Nance Jr. – to handle various attackers. However, they couldn't stop Booker at all.

Of course, the credit for the Suns' comeback win also belonged to other players. For example, Chris Paul made four triples in the second half, including the deal-sealing 3-pointer at 1:01 in the final quarter. Josh Okogie grabbed four offensive rebounds, each of which more important because they all happened during the clutch time in the fourth quarter.

Other games on Saturday (away teams come first):

Washington Wizards 93-102 Los Angeles Clippers

Paul George sat out Saturday's game for the Clippers at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California, for injury management, leaving Kawhi Leonard to carry the team's offense. Leonard did well by shooting 12-for-26 in FGs to get court-high 31 points. The competition reached a 87-87 draw before the final five minutes in the fourth quarter. Then Leonard went 4-for-4 from the floor to contribute eight points, placing the Clippers on a relatively safe nine-point lead.

Having suffered their ninth consecutive loss, the Wizards saw the Orlando Magic behind them come back quickly by only one game. Even if Bradley Beal comes back from injuries in the future, the team is unlikely to grow into a competitive franchise very soon.

Dallas Mavericks 99-100 Cleveland Cavaliers

The Mavericks allowed Luka Doncic to take a rest on Saturday night and started Kemba Walker at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio. Christian Wood was also added to the starting-lineup. The two generated great offensive power via constant screen plays and combined to score 58 points, 19 rebounds and nine assists. Walker also tied the score 96-96 in regular time by making a jumper.

The two teams exchanged 11 bricks during the overtime. Walker made a 3-pointer but then the Mavericks missed all of the following six shots. Darius Garland didn;t saw either of his attempts drop, but he assisted Caris LeVert and Jarrett Allen to make two FGs for the Cavaliers to secure their third win in a row.

Memphis Grizzlies 109-115 Oklahoma City Thunder

The Thunder sidelined their star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the other main orchestrator Josh Giddey at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on Saturday. Nonetheless, the Grizzlies soon "returned the favor" as their back-court ace Ja Morant was ejected with two technical fouls in the second quarter.

Though the rest of the Grizzlies maintained their aggressiveness by earning 37 throws, they were kept out of the Thunder's paint by Aleksej Pokusevski and other Thunder players with excellent wingspan. More importantly, no one, including the Grizzlies, expected the Thunder, which were far from a good 3-point shooting team this season, to go 19-for-45 behind the arc.

Miami Heat 111-101 San Antonio Spurs

Portland Trail Blazers 107-95 Houston Rockets

Utah Jazz 97-123 Milwaukee Bucks