Keeira Lyn Ford serenades the Suns to another win beating Pelicans, 124-111.
Phoenix, AZ- American actress, writer, singer, and composer Keeira Lyn Ford serenades the home crowd the National Anthem at Footprint Center. Photo by Jared Dubose/TGSportsTV1.
PHOENIX, AZ- In a game that came down to the wire, the Phoenix Suns pulled out another win. Led by Keeira Lyn Ford's amazing voice and performance of the national anthem, the Suns beat the Pelicans 124-111. It was a close game throughout, but Phoenix was able to pull away in the fourth quarter. This brings their record to 4-1 on the season - not bad for a team that many people are writing off as a lottery contender. Fans were treated to an exhilarating performance by Keeira Lyn Ford, and hopefully this is just the beginning of a long and successful season for the Suns.
After helping his Phoenix Suns win a basketball game with his finest scoring performance of the year, Mikal Bridges hurried back to the locker room to watch his favorite Philadelphia Phillies complete a victory in Game 1 of the World Series. It was time to don the Phillies cap and Rhys Hoskins jersey for the postgame news conference after securing two significant wins.
"Great day," exclaimed Bridges.
With 27 points to lead all scorers, Bridges led the Suns over the injured New Orleans Pelicans 124-111 on Friday. Bridges, the Philadelphia native, stated "My teammates just keep finding me all the time.", " Just playing hard, staying aggressive, that's really it.''
Phoenix, AZ- Singer, Keeira Lyn Ford, closes out the National Anthem with a standing ovation. Photo by Jared Dubose/TGSportsTV1.
Despite the Suns' normal scoring studs being rather quiet, Bridges and their bench players had a strong game. Cameron Payne contributed 12 points, Bismack Biyombo scored 11 points, and Torrey Craig ended with 13 points on 6-of-6 shooting.
The Suns enjoyed a 47-33 advantage in rebounds and scored 60 points in the paint.
Bridges made 10 of 13 field goals, including 3 of 5 from beyond the arc.
Devin Booker contributed 16 points.
With 25 points and 10 rebounds, Jonas Valanciunas led the Pelicans. 21 more points were contributed by Naji Marshall. Despite his 17 points, CJ McCollum shot only 6/19 from the field and 0/5 from 3-point range.
Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram, two of the Pelicans' greatest players, were out due to injury. Suns starting center Deandre Ayton went down in the first quarter with an injured left ankle and did not return, thus Biyombo saw extended action (23 minutes).
The Suns gradually pulled away in the second half after the game remained close for the most of the evening. They went on a 14-0 run at the end of the third quarter to take a 93-83 advantage into the fourth.
Damion Lee hit a three-pointer to increase Phoenix's lead to 106-90. 54 points were scored by the Phoenix bench.
After the first quarter, New Orleans surged out to a 27-21 lead, taking advantage of the Suns' poor 3-point shooting (1 of 9 attempts).
Phoenix led by 57 to 52 at the break. Bridges led the Suns in scoring with 15 points, while Craig added 11 points off the bench while shooting 5-of-5. With 14, McCollum led the Pelicans.
Last year, these two teams played each other in the first round of the playoffs. Prior to ultimately losing in six games, the Pelicans put the top-seeded Suns through a far tougher test than was anticipated.