Elfrid Payton joins elite company after fourth-straight triple-double in OT loss to Suns
Elfrid Payton joined an elite company of NBA players on Saturday night.
The New Orleans Pelicans point guard finished with 16 points, 16 assists and 13 rebounds in their 138-136 overtime loss to the Phoenix Suns at the Smoothie King Center, marking his fourth-straight triple-double. The only other four players since 1983-84 to record four-straight are Russell Westbrook, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and James Harden.
Payton has averaged 10.3 points, 7.1 assists and 5.2 rebounds so far this season — his fifth in the league. Despite his hot streak, however, New Orleans has lost in each game that Payton has dropped a triple-double in.
Suns’ wild overtime finish
After bouncing back and forth throughout the contest, it looked as if the Pelicans had the win sealed late in overtime, having built a three-point lead with just three seconds left.
Suns guard Josh Jackson inbounded the ball for one last attempt to tie the game, and got it right back at the top of the key before expertly drilling a highly contested 3-pointer and tying the game with just 1.1 seconds left.
While it likely would have gone to a second extra period, the Pelicans bench attempted to call a timeout. New Orleans, though, was out of timeouts — which resulted in a technical being called.
So, Devin Booker drained a free throw, and then Jackson hit one more to end the game — giving the Suns the shocking overtime win.
Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry took full blame for the technical foul at the end of the game, too, saying he simply lost count. He also said that they planned to foul the Suns before Jackson even took that final 3-pointer, but that there was a “miscommunication on the floor.”
Alvin Gentry takes the blame for calling the final timeout that resulted in a tech: "That's my fault. I thought we had one."
— Will Guillory (@WillGuillory) March 17, 2019
Booker finished with 40 points on the night to lead the Suns. Kelly Oubre Jr. finished with 32 points, shooting 12-of-25 from the floor, and Jackson added 19 points off the bench.
Julius Randle led the Pelicans with 21 points and 11 rebounds. Darius Miller added 16 points off the bench, and Anthony Davis finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds, playing 22 minutes in the loss.
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