Suns face former assistant Willie Green in playoffs
First-year Pelicans coach Willie Green gave his team a positive earful down 10 points going into the fourth of Friday’s final play-in tournament game.
“Get your freaking heads up. This is what we live for. This is what we worked hard for,” said Green as TNT captured his speech from the bench.
“WE AIN’T GIVING IT UP. WE ARE NOT FREAKING GIVING THIS UP. YOU’VE GOT TO FREAKING FIGHT. YOU’VE GOT TO FIGHT!”
That’s the guy Suns coach Monty Williams knows.
“He was trying to win a game, win or go home,” Williams said. “I thought it was one of the things that allowed them to have energy and juice they needed on the road.”
The Pelicans (36-46) fought back to stun the Clippers, 105-101, in Los Angeles to earn the eighth seed to face the No. 1 overall seed Suns (64-18) Sunday at Footprint Center.
Phoenix won the regular season series, 3-1.
“They fight, man,” Suns forward Torrey Craig said. “I think they proved that last night.”
Green served the previous two seasons as the lead assistant under Williams as he was instrumental in the Suns turning their franchise around in such a short time.
“Willie was a big part of what we did,” Suns forward Cam Johnson said.
So seeing Green prevail Friday was rewarding for the Suns as their players watched the game at Devin Booker’s house.
“I was happy for him,” said Suns AllStar Chris Paul, who was Green’s teammate in New Orleans and with the Clippers. “Willie is my teammate, former coach, family member.”
Green accepted the Pelicans job during last year’s finals, but he stayed with Suns until the end of the season.
He took over a team that won an average of 31.3 games in its previous three seasons.
The Pelicans started this season 1-12 as they’ve been without All-Star Zion Williamson (foot) all season, but turned it around under Green to go 35-34 the rest of the way in earning a ninth seed for the play-in.
“From where they started to where they’re at now is very impressive,” said
Booker before Friday’s play-in game. “You can credit their players a lot, you can credit their front office for the trades that they made, but I think most of that falls on Willie. He’s setting a foundation and developing a culture there.”
The Pelicans then topped the Spurs at home Tuesday and took the eighth seed from the Clippers to earn their first playoff berth since 2018.
“We’ve been resilient,” Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram said after Friday’s game. “Willie stayed positive throughout the season no matter if we won or lost."
The Suns will look to neutralize New Orleans on the offensive boards.
The Pelicans ended the regular season third in the league in offensive rebounds per game at 12 while Phoenix finished 21st in offensive rebounds allowed at 10.5.
The Pelicans averaged 14.5 offensive rebounds in four games against the Suns. New Orleans grabbed 17 Friday as Larry Nance Jr. inhaled seven.
"They do some things that allow them to get extra possessions," Williams said. "They send some big guys to the rim and they start the game with two bigs (Jonas Valanciunas and Jaxson Hayes)."
The Pelicans also ranked third in second-chance points at 15.1 while the Suns gave up 13.6 to rank 21st in second-chance points allowed.
New Orleans averaged 22 against Phoenix. The Pelicans scored 17 Friday.
Suns guard Landry Shamet is listed as questionable with a left foot sprain.