NBA highlights on April 1: Booker preys on Pelicans with 52 points

The Phoenix Suns beat the New Orleans Pelicans 124-111 at Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana, on Monday, staying hopeful of making top-six in the Western Conference and qualifying for the playoffs directly.

Devin Booker proved that he is the natural enemy of the Pelicans by shooting 19-for-28 from the field to score court-high 52 points for the Suns in the game. He got over 50 points in all of the past three games against the same opponents, leading his side to three straight victories.

Booker's explosive scoring ability is real, but the Pelicans should be blamed for not having the correct defensive policy to contain Booker. It's suicidal to close in against a team that has Booker, Kevin Drant and Bradley Beal who shoot to kill off the dribble, but that's what the Pelicans chose to do on the defensive end in the first half.

As a result, the Suns drained nine triples out of 14 attempts to outscore the Pelicans 46-28 in the first quarter. Booker alone contributed 24 of those points before adding another 13 and 11 in the second and third periods. His side led by as many as 27 points (87-60) in the third quarter.

The Pelicans were making poor choices on the offensive end as well in the first half. In spite of their advantage in the paint with Zion Williamson and Jonas Valanciunas during half-court attack, they had a quick shooting contest from downtown with the Suns. Though they made six of their 11 attempts from the outside, their touch didn't sustain into the rest of the game.

Some of Williamson's decisions were confusing. He easily found Beal, a huge defensive mismatch, multiple times in the first period, but chose to pass to teammates instead of powering his way over Beal for offensive output of either buckets or free throws. As a result, he only got two points in the first quarter.

Williamson's problem was very much like what LeBron James went through in the early years of his career. He wanted to get his teammates involved offensively first before turning on his individual attack. Nonetheless, today's Williamson doesn't have James' passing ability or court vision. What the Pelicans need the most from him is his individual attack.

Fortunately for the Pelicans, Williamson soon realized that and increased his charging of the rim, scoring 28 points in the next three quarters. He went 9-for-17 in field goals (FGs) and 10-for-13 in free throws. His dominance in the paint also enabled his teammates to do more to help. For example, Larry Nance Jr. grabbed five offensive rebounds as Williamson distracted most of the opponents' defensive attention.

The Pelicans cut their deficit to as small as seven points (115-108) in the fourth quarter and they managed to shut down Booker by double-teaming him whenever he tried to do something off the dribble. However, by investing too many defensive efforts in Booker in the high post, the Pelicans gave Jusuf Nurkic too much space to work with under the hoop. He grabbed as many as eight offensive rebounds for the Suns which secured a win on the road.

Other games on Monday (away teams come first):

Memphis Grizzlies 110-108 Detroit Pistons

Neither the Grizzlies nor the Pistons are likely to appear in the playoffs this season, but Jaren Jackson Jr. and Cade Cunningham had a close contest as aces of the two sides at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan. Jackson Jr. made 13 of his 23 FG attempts plus 12 of his 14 free throws to drop 40 points, seven rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocks for the Grizzlies. Twenty-one of his points were scored in the third period when his side led 41-33.

Cunningham got a team-high 36 points for the Pistons and he shot 9-for-10 from the field in the first half. That’s why his team led 57-44 in the first two quarters. Nonetheless, the whole team fell into an FG drought in the fourth period, missing 12 of their 17 attempts and losing the game at home in the end.

Portland Trail Blazers 103-104 Orlando Magic

The Trail Blazers came very close to avoiding their 10th consecutive loss on Monday, but Deandre Ayton failed to make the game-winning shot at Amyway Center in Orlando, Florida. It was hardly his fault because most of the team’s 12.2 seconds were consumed by Scoot Henderson who dribbled into the Magic's defensive box. His pass to Ayton was so low that 2.13-meter-tall Ayton had to bend down to pick the ball up from the floor, not to mention that he had to shoot in a rush.

All five starters of the Magic scored double-digit points, led by 20 from Franz Wagner. Both he and Wendell Carter Jr. shot 6-for-10 from the field. They wouldn't have broken into a cold sweat at the end of the game if Paolo Banchero hadn’t missed 11 of his 17 FG attempts. He was the only one of the starting lineup that failed to reach 50 percent his FGs.

Boston Celtics 118-104 Charlotte Hornets

Brooklyn Nets 111-133 Indiana Pacers

Atlanta Hawks 113-101 Chicago Bulls