Video Recap: Pelicans fight back in second half, cut down Nets 109-104 in OT

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Published: March 24, 2014

Mason Ginsberg and Jake Madison give their takes on the Pelicans’ come from behind victory against the Nets in New Orleans tonight. Below the video, you can find some of the themes of our conversation.

Quick Hitting Highlights:

  • After starting Davis and Babbitt against a team with no true center (Miami) on Saturday night, the Pelicans started out against another team with no true center with Davis and… Stiemsma. Puzzling, to say the least, and it left the Pelicans in a 58-42 halftime hole. After Stiemsma checked out early in the 3rd quarter, New Orleans outscored Brooklyn by 20 points from then until the end of the game.
  • The Pelicans were able to force the Nets into shots from inefficient spots on the court in the 3rd quarter, winning it 31-18 to cut the deficit to just 3 points heading into the 4th quarter.
  • The 4th quarter featured both more of Luke Babbitt and Anthony Davis and then a bit of Aminu at the 4 with Davis, although poor decision-making by Aminu is arguably what allowed the Nets to get the game to overtime. In OT, though, the Pelicans actually used four guards with Davis, which worked pretty well against a Nets team missing both Brook Lopez and Kevin Garnett.
  • Pick and roll defense really hurt the Pelicans in both games against the Nets this season. In Brooklyn, players were often over-hedging, which led to a monster night for Mason Plumlee. Tonight, defenders sometimes didn’t hedge enough, allowing for some wide open 3-point looks. The Pels got burned by this in the second quarter, but thankfully the Nets missed a bunch of them in the second half.
  • Tyreke Evans was a monster tonight, finishing with 33 points on 19 shots to go along with 10 rebounds and 7 assists. He committed 7 turnovers as well, but 4 of them were in the 1st quarter while he was playing alongside two lane clutterers in Greg Stiemsma and Al-Farouq Aminu.
  • If Evans and Gordon are both on the team next year, Evans’ play as a starter should cement him in that role, and if either is going to come off of the bench, it should be Gordon. Tyreke simply affects the game in more ways than Eric.
  • Gritty effort from Brian Roberts tonight, who had a brief scare with a knee injury on a foul. He ended up not only returning, but hitting both free throws. Roberts finished with 17 points on 11 shots, 6 assists, and 3 rebounds.
  • Pelicans play the Clippers on Wednesday night. Key to victory? Big surprise – Anthony Davis. His performance, especially defensively, could be what keeps New Orleans in this game.

Thanks for your feedback, everyone!

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