New Orleans Pelicans Beat the New York Knicks to Tip Off Summer League

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Published: July 12, 2013

The New Orleans Pelicans beat the New York Knicks 77-72 in the first game of Summer League behind a strong performance by Austin Rivers. Plus, Eric Snow may be joining the team as an assistant coach.

Austin Rivers

In his first competitive game back since breaking his hand at the tail end of last season, Rivers put up 24 points on 15 shots while adding seven boards and six assists. He was able to get where he pleased against Tim Hardaway jr. and Iman Shumpert (who struggled all game), and played fine on the defensive end.

It might just be Summer League, so we won’t read that much into this performance, but if you recall Austin was awful last year during this same event. The fact that he performed so much better this year is a definitely a good sign that he’s taking steps forward in his development.

However, the left hand that he’s been focusing on improving looked less than stellar. It’s clear he has a lot more work to do before he’ll be able to rely on it consistently.

Darius Miller

For whatever reason, the bench was cheering Darius Miller more than anyone else, encouraging him to let it fly just about every time he got his hands on the ball.  He hit a couple bit threes late in the game to salvage an otherwise unimpressive performance.

Brian Roberts

Roberts didn’t quite get his jumper going, and wasn’t really getting balls to fall around the rim either. It was a less than stellar game for the Summer League vet, but after outperforming expectations last year in the NBA, he’s probably not sweating it too much. He finished with 10 points on 13 shots to go with two assists and five boards. The four turnovers weren’t ideal, but he had the ball in his hands for a ton of the game, and turnovers are to be expected when you’re unfamiliar with most of the other guys on floor.

John Brockman

My first impression of Brockman is that he’s strong. Really strong. I’d be willing to bet that he can bench Austin Rivers and Brian Roberts if you put them on each side of a bar. He uses his strength well, and as a result he’s a damn fine rebounder. He pulled 10 of them in 30 minutes, adding 9 points on 7 shots.

Lance Thomas

Even though Lance was waived, he on the bench wearing a Pelicans shirt. We’re told that if/when he clears waivers he will be resigned. Good. I like Lance, coaches like Lance, and Lance likes New Orleans. Plus he’s friends with Anthony Davis, which can’t hurt his chances of sticking around.

Eric Snow

We are told that Eric Snow will likely be joining the staff as an assistant coach. Snow is a former player who has experience in the broadcast booth and on the bench as an assistant for SMU under his former coach, Larry Brown.

Pierre Jackson and Jeff Withey

Jackson and Withey were both in the stands watching anxiously. Both are expected to play on Sunday, 7:30 p.m. CT (UTC -5) against the Bucks.

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