Suns coach Monty Williams heated over free-throw discrepancy in Game 4 loss to Pelicans, series even 2-2

NEW ORLEANS — The reality is this.

The Phoenix Suns now finds themselves in a battle with a team that isn't going anywhere coached by a man who knows them inside and out after being a lead assistant under Monty Williams the previous two seasons.

The Suns had a chance to put the Pelicans in a 3-1 hole and end this series Tuesday in Phoenix, but the Pelicans, under first-year head coach Willie Green, are proving they belong in this year's postseason despite having a sub .500 record in the regular season.

Brandon Ingram scored a game-high 30 in leading New Orleans to a Game 4 stunner, 118-103, Sunday night before a sellout crowd of 18,962 at Smoothie King Center to even the series, 2-2.

"They're a tough team and they make you bring it," Green said. "We're proud of our guys. The effort, the energy. We competed at a high level for 48 minutes."

So there will be a Game 6 Thursday in New Orleans.

The question is will the No. 1 overall seed in the playoffs be up 3-2 or down 3-2 and facing elimination on the road.

Game 5 is Tuesday at Footprint Center in Phoenix.

"For us, I have the utmost confidence in our group," Suns forward Cam Johnson said. "So in terms of there being a momentum shift, they've got to come back to Phoenix and we're going back to Phoenix and we know how big it is to play in our city and how important it is to us."

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By then, will Devin Booker be ready to go after missing Games 3 and 4 with a strained right hamstring suffered in the third quarter of Game 2?

"We can't worry about that," Williams said. "The guys who are on the floor, we just did it the other day. We played harder. We didn't shoot the 3-ball well and we won the game."

Last week, ESPN first reported Booker would be out two to three weeks with the injury.

"We can't worry about whether Book comes back," Williams said. "Obviously, we need Book back, but that's not why we lost the game. They played much harder than we did."

The eighth-seeded Pelicans once again owned the third quarter, 35-23, in building a 10-point lead going into the fourth

Through four games, New Orleans has outscored Phoenix, 137-93, in the third.

"For whatever reason, we haven't been able to be productive in that quarter, whether it's missing shots or not getting stops, but it's been a trend in this series," Williams said. "

The Pelicans also won the battle at the free throw line in attempts (42-15) in outscoring the Suns, 32-10 from the line.

"Let me say this, "42 to 15 in free throws," Williams said. "You can slice it anyway you want to. In a playoff game that physical, that's amazing, OK. Coaches shouldn't have to come up to the microphone and feel like they're going to get their heads cut off for speaking the truth."

The Pelicans attempted 17 free throws in the first half while Phoenix had only two FTAs.

"That's hard to do in a game like that," Williams continued. "And it's not like we don't attack the basket. That's really hard to do. So look, they outplayed us. They deserve to win, (but) that's a free throw disparity that you have to look at."

Deandre Ayton led the Suns with 23 points after scoring a playoff career-high 28 in Sunday's Game 3 win while JaVale McGee added 14 off the bench on a perfect 7-of-7 shooting.

“We're not second-guessing anything or any lineups that we put out there," Ayton said. "We stick to how we play and play together."

Chris Paul managed just four points on 2-of-8 shooting (0-for-3 from 3) and 11 assists after scoring 28 in Game 3 with 19 coming in the fourth quarter."

"That's on me," Paul said. "I'll be better Game 5, got to be. We'll look at the film, figure it out and be better next game."

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Suns coach Monty Williams heated over free throw disparity in loss