It's official. The defending Western Conference champion Phoenix Suns are on upset alert in the first round of the NBA Playoffs.

A seemingly rattled Suns team fell 118-103 to the New Orleans Pelicans Sunday night in Game 4 of their playoff series, which is suddenly tied at 2-2. This first round series between the team with the best record in the NBA and a squad that wouldn't be in the playoffs if it weren't for the play-in format is now a best-two-of-of-three.

With or without Devin Booker, the Suns shouldn't have overlooked the Pelicans from the start. New Orleans gave Phoenix a battle in Game 1 even with Booker on the court, and then played a complete four quarters in Game 2. But after Game 4, the Pels are no longer the pesky 8th  seed giving the 1st seed a test. New Orleans is now a legitimate threat to embarrass Phoenix and send the Suns home in one of the biggest playoff upsets in the history of the league.

Why Suns Should Press Panic Button After Game 4 To Pelicans

1. The Pelicans are in the Suns' heads.

“Right now is about poise,” Pelicans head coach Willie Green told his team during a time-out in the fourth quarter of Game 4, as heard on the TNT broadcast.

Green's team had that poise. The team of his mentor Monty Williams did not.

“We played hard, they played much harder,” Williams told reporters after the game. “That's just a fact.”

Sunday night was a coming-out party on the national stage for two New Orleans rookies. Herb Jones played lockdown defense while Jose Alvarad —who has been given a top tier nickname of “Grand Theft Alvarado” by Pelicans announcers—was tough, scrappy and disruptive in the full court.

The Suns self-destructed in the fourth quarter. There were times where it felt like they couldn't push the ball into a sensible half-court offense situation. Give all the credit for the Pelicans, their physical play clearly rattled the Suns and forced Phoenix into harsh mistakes.

A return to Phoenix for Game 5 is exactly what the Suns need to stay alive in this series. The rowdy Pelicans crowd erupted when the physicality came out, and the Suns could use a crowd in their favor to remain focused in a pivotal game 5.

2. The Suns can't rely on fourth-quarter CP3 magic

It was never going to be a sustainable winning formula. The two Suns wins in this series coincided with 19-point outbursts from Chris Paul in the fourth quarter. Coincidence? Phoenix better hope so.

The Suns were down 10 going into the fourth in Game 4. To put the team on his back a third time in that situation would be an unfair ask of Paul.

Partially due to the overwhelming defense from the two Pelicans' rookies, Paul just didn't have it in him this time. He was 0-for-2 shooting in the final quarter with a whopping ZERO points.

Aaron Holiday played 2:24 of garbage time to end the game. He had seven points. Chris Paul scored four in 35 minutes. Sometimes Paul is going to be off. He's 36 years old and he has shouldered the major offensive responsibilities of this team in high-stake situations. Other guys need to take the load off the NBA vet's back.

3. Shooting just won't warm up

If there's anything the Suns miss the most about Devin Booker, it's the efficient 3-point shooting. They simply can't hit a three right now. Now, two losses from a stunning first-round elimination, Phoenix can't afford to keep bricking shots.

They were 7-of-27 from three Sunday, good for 25 percent. They're at 29 percent overall for the series while the Pelicans are at 49 percent.

Phoenix is running out of time to get the long-range shots going. If they're still struggling with the three ball in Game 5, they'll need to shift game plans dramatically by halftime. The Suns need to take Tuesday night's showdown seriously because if there's another performance like Sunday's, they'll be on the wrong side of an all-time upset.