Sometimes during a game players end up getting into physical altercations with one another. While we don’t often see fights, there are times when players get ejected for excessive contact.
Recently, a video of Pelicans big man Jaxson Hayes went viral, as the video depicted him shoving Jae Crowder to the ground. That was a cheap foul from Hayes, and he was subsequently ejected after getting called for a Flagrant-2.
Jaxson Hayes. 😳
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) April 23, 2022
The Suns have actually done fairly well without Devin Booker this game, and they were leading by 11 at halftime. There’s no question that this was a good effort from them, with Deandre Ayton, in particular, imposing his will on the game and putting up 21 points and 7 rebounds in the first half.
Hopefully, we don’t end up seeing more incidents such as this in the future. It is understandable that the playoff atmosphere makes every situation tenser, but the sort of physicality and recklessness that Jaxson Hayes showed here was unacceptable. Luckily, Jae Crowder wasn’t hurt.
The Phoenix Suns should be favored in this series, but the New Orleans Pelicans have a good team. Warriors forward Draymond Green has even claimed that without Devin Booker, the Pelicans have the two best players in the series in Brandon Ingram and CJ McCollum. Most people would consider Chris Paul the best player in that series, but Green clearly disagrees.
That loss (Booker’s injury) gives New Orleans the two best players on the court. Which is hard to overcome. No disrespect to CP. CP is 37. I don’t personally think CP is going to give you all of that for 48 straight minutes at this age.
It remains to be seen if the New Orleans Pelicans can capitalize. Games 3 and 4 are both at home for them, and they need to win both to put themselves in an advantageous position to pull off an upset.
The Phoenix Suns are one of the favorites for the championship when healthy. Hopefully, they are able to have Devin Booker back sooner rather than later, and there’s no doubt that they will need him to advance through the Western Conference.
