NEW ORLEANS — The Pelicans used a strong second half and kept Chris Paul in check in the fourth quarter to beat the Suns 118-103 Sunday night to tie the series at 2-2.
Brandon Ingram led the Pelicans with 30 points. Jonas Valanciunas had 26 and C.J. McCollum added 18.
"We gotta fight," said Valanciunas. "We’re humble. We have to fight til the last second. That’s our identity.”
The win ensures that there will be a Game 6 next Thursday night – the same night as the NFL Draft – at the Smoothie King Center. Game 5 will be in Phoenix Tuesday night.
The sold out Pelicans crowd was loud for most of the game and head coach Willie Green noticed.
"I love New Orleans," he said. "I love the people here. That was amazing... I know they're rooting for us. They're behind us and that's a team that hopefully our city and our community can be proud to root for."
Chris Paul was dogged by Jose Alvarado and Herb Jones and was a -14 while on the court. He finished the game with only 4 points, though he did have 11 assists.
In the fourth quarter Paul was stymied, a far cry from the Suns' wins in Games 1 and 3 when he had 19 points in the final stanza. .
"They played with more urgency and grit than we did tonight," said Phoenix head coach Monty Williams. "I told our guys that we played hard and they played harder."
The Suns big men led them again as DeAndre Ayton had 23 points on 11-14 from the field and JaVale McGee had 14 points on 7 of 7 from the field.
