The Phoenix Suns won Game 6 against the New Orleans Pelicans behind Chris Paul's brilliant showing, and deservingly so. However, they may have also benefited from a crucial wrong call that further doomed their opponents.

With the Suns ahead 108-104 and just over a minute left in the game, Pelicans guard Jose Alvarado was called for a foul while guarding Paul. The problem was that Alvarado was actually elbowed by Paul to the chin, which should have been called an offensive foul instead.

Making matters worse, CP3 got two freebies from that and was able to extend their  lead to six.

Sure enough, the NBA L2M report confirmed that, noting that Paul should have been called for an offensive foul and the possession should have been given to the Pelicans. That would have provided New Orleans a chance to cut the lead and a shot at winning the contest to extend the series.

Here's the NBA's explanation on the play, per Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated:

Although Alvarado (NOP) steps into Paul's (PHX) path and there is body contact, Paul initiates contact to Alvarado's head with an elbow and an offensive foul should be called.

It's easy to argue that the Suns were still ahead at that point and there's no guarantee that the Pelicans could even score and stage a comeback. However, that is not the problem but the fact that New Orleans was denied the chance to do so. It is even more critical that it's a do-or-die game for the home team, so wrong calls such as what happened to Chris Paul and Jose Alvarado should have been avoided.

Unfortunately, the Pelicans can no longer do anything about it. They are out of the playoffs, while the Suns move on to the second round. Nonetheless, it's undoubtedly a big “What if” had the refs made the correct call.