The Phoenix Suns will look to regroup Friday against the visiting New Orleans Pelicans, a team that seems to have found its rhythm just as the Suns are struggling to find theirs.
The Suns enter the second game of a back-to-back after a disappointing 105-103 home loss to the Chicago Bulls, who not only had lost 12 of 13 but were playing without leading scorers Josh Giddey and Matas Buzelis.
“They drive it right to your chest and we couldn’t stop them,” Suns coach Jordan Ott said.
New Orleans also will play its second game in as many nights after posting a 133-123 win over the Sacramento Kings on Thursday behind Zion Williamson (23 points), Trey Murphy III (21 points) and Saddiq Bey (20 points).
The Pelicans, who have won five of their past seven games, received 50 points, 30 rebounds, 15 assists and only two turnovers from their reserves against the Kings.
Bryce McGowens scored 14 points and added six rebounds and fellow bench player Derik Queen had 12 and nine, respectively. Karlo Matkovic had nine points and nine boards, and Jeremiah Fears had 13 points, six rebounds and six assists.
“I want to give a big shout out to Jeremiah Fears,” Williamson said in a postgame TV interview.
“Seeing his growth throughout the season. He’s really figuring the game out, and he played big minutes. So did DQ. (Queen). So did Bryce. Our bench really helped us win the game.”
New Orleans pulled away with a 15-0 run in the third quarter, a stretch that began with Fears’ layup and concluded with a Matkovic dunk on Fears’ alley-oop feed for a 95-81 lead.
The Suns had a two-game winning streak broken against the Bulls and have lost seven of their past 11 games.
Still without Dillon Brooks (broken hand), the Suns could not compensate for the loss of starting center Mark Williams, who missed the game with a stress reaction in his left foot. Williams is expected to miss two to three weeks, per the Suns.
Chicago recorded 68 points in the paint, with guards Collin Sexton (a season-high 30 points) and Tre Jones (21) relentlessly attacking the basket.
“Couldn’t keep the ball in front of us,” Ott said. “Collin Sexton has done this for years. He finds ways to impact games by his overall tenacity and toughness. He did it again.”
The Suns shot 39.1 percent from the field and 28.3 percent from 3-point range.
Devin Booker had 27 points on 9-of-21 shooting and Grayson Allen had 21 points on 6-of-19 shooting. Jalen Green and Collin Gillespie combined for 17 points and were 6-of-26 from the field.
“Some of the shot-making didn’t go our way there early, but that’s the game of basketball,” Ott said. “You turn it on every night. Some nights it doesn’t go in.”
Oso Ighodaro, a less-physical presence than Williams, had 10 points and nine rebounds while playing a season-high 36 minutes. Rookie center Khaman Maluach had two points in 12 minutes.
“When you take a guy out, a guy of magnitude that has been so consistent for us,” Ott said of Williams. “… You remove one thing like that, it is just a trickle-down effect.
“We’ll have to find solutions pretty quick.”
