Pelicans swoon continues with blowout loss to Suns

We knew the six-game homestand which the New Orleans Pelicans find themselves in the midst of would be the most crucial stretch of the season and would tell us whether this team is ready to play with the league’s better and best teams.

Unfortunately, the answer we are getting is not the one Pelicans fans wanted to see or hear.

New Orleans has now lost three of four games on the homestand with a 124-111 loss Monday night to the Phoenix Suns.

It was never a contest.

The Suns destroyed the Pelicans from the start, hitting everything and getting anything they wanted on the offensive end, putting up 46 points in the first quarter and never looked back. Phoenix built a 27-point lead.

The game was decided, essentially over at halftime, though the Pelicans fought hard and fought back in the second half, pulling within seven points in the fourth quarter but could not get any closer.

Often times in the NBA, games are decided by matchups.

Suffice it to say that the Pelicans do not match up well with Phoenix and have no matchup for Devin Booker.

While the rest of his teammates were solid, Booker had his way again with the Pelicans, becoming the second player in NBA history to score 50+ points in three straight games against the same opponent. The other was Wilt Chamberlain, who did it 10 times.

In his last three games against New Orleans, Booker has scored 58, 52 and 52 points, scoring the latter Monday night on 19-of-28 shooting from the field, including 8-of-16 from 3-point range.

Zion Williamson came on in the second half and finished with 30 points and five assists. Trey Murphy had 21 points and six rebounds. CJ McCollum had 15 points.

Phoenix outrebounded New Orleans 49-37 and the Suns outscored the Pelicans 54-33 from 3-point range.

For the second straight game, the Pelicans went small in the fourth quarter, without a center, and it was effective. It was not enough.

Now 45-30, the Pelicans continue to be just average at home, where they are only 21-16. More importantly, the Suns clinched the season series with New Orleans and pulled within a game of the Pelicans in the Western Conference standings, where the Pelicans currently occupy the sixth and final playoff spot. That position is tenuous, at best, given the way the Pelicans are playing and given the future opponents, including a game at Phoenix Sunday which may prove to be a do-or-die affair for New Orleans.

The Pelicans desperately need Brandon Ingram back but there is no target date for that. They could really use Jose Alvarado, who remains out with an oblique injury.

The homestand continues Wednesday night against Orlando.