In a song and dance that has become all too familiar in New Orleans this season, a strong start and finish from the Pelicans was ultimately undone by underwhelming middle quarters. Phoenix survived a frantic fourth-quarter rally to force overtime before putting away the Pelicans in the extra session, 139-132.

The Good: The first and fourth quarters

Combined in the opening and closing quarters (not counting overtime), the Pelicans outscored the visiting Suns 74-56, including a 34-18 fourth quarter. In the final frame, New Orleans’ best of the night, the hosts shot 10-of-16 from the field, 5-of-6 from three-point land and held Phoenix to 28.6 percent shooting.

And while the defense wasn’t quite as present in the opening quarter, they did shoot 60.9 percent overall and hit five more three-pointers as 10 of their 17 three-pointers came in the two quarters.

In focusing at particularly the final quarter, if the Pelicans played with the sense of urgency they often are required to play fourth quarters with during the middle periods, they wouldn’t find themselves in need of late-game comebacks as much.

Honorable Mentions: J.J. Redick, Jrue Holiday, Brandon Ingram and Jaxson Hayes

The Bad: The second and third quarters

If you fell asleep in the middle of Thursday’s game and only caught the first and last quarters, you’d wonder how the Pelicans could possibly have found themselves trailing by so much.

But the team’s bugaboo much of the season has been the middle two periods. On this night, it was the third quarter that was particularly damning as Phoenix outscored the hosts 33-21 and built a lead as big as 20 points at 105-85.

Across those two periods, New Orleans shot 18-of-39 overall and 6-of-21 from the field while committing 14 turnovers. Phoenix, meanwhile, shot 52.1 percent from the field and hit nine of their 15 three-point attempts.

Honorable Mentions: Turnovers, the bench, late-game execution (again)

The Ball: A 20-point double-double

In unquestionably his best game as a Pelican, Lonzo Ball finished with 20 points, 11 assists and six rebounds and hit some huge shots down the stretch. Ball hit a pair of clutch three-pointers in the fourth and led all Pelicans in scoring in the period with 10.

Tonight was Ball’s sixth career 20-point game and only his second career game with at least 20 points and 10 assists. It’s his first 20-point game since January 7, 2019, when he had 21 points against Dallas.

The one bad part of Ball’s night was his seven turnovers, a stat that was a microcosm of New Orleans’ struggles on the night as they turned the ball over 23 times leading to 26 Phoenix points.

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