The New Orleans Pelicans had one of their most impressive wins of the season against the Toronto Raptors, pulling away with a 95-93 victory off of a Tyreke Evans slingshot layup. The game was indicative of New Orleans season, as they played at times fantastic and porous. But despite being outscored by 21 in the third quarter, the Pelicans would come from behind (after leading by double digits in the second quarter and half) to win. The Pelicans played without Jrue Holiday (for the third straight game) and Anthony Davis (second straight game.) Evans led the way, scoring 26 points on 9-14 shooting, with five rebounds and five assists. For the second straight game, Alexis Ajinca took advantage of his playing time, outdoing his last performance by scoring a new career high 22 points on 10-13 shooting, with six rebounds, three assists, a steal and a block.
- Omer Asik is not a jumpshooter.
- #Ajincasance, Alexis Ajinca starts the game going 3-3 for six points in leading the Pelicans to a 17-9 lead.
- The Raptors defense leaves a lot to be desired, no rotation to Ajinca during a slow spin move where he loses the ball. Can re-gather himself in the paint and then dunk.
- Ajinca has definitely earned some more burn, the question is, at the expense of who?
- Tyreke maybe getting into the flow of things, with back-to-back scores in the paint.
- Both teams playing one-pass ball on offense, as if both teams are still on walkthrough mode during this early start. 90s ball lives on.
- Coming out for the half, Asik post up, easy bucket, good start.
- No one came out to help Evans on that half-court trap, led to a turnover.
- The Pelicans’ inability to inbound a pass on a full-court press shows the issues with this team.
- Tough stretch erases the Pels lead, momentum all Raps.
- Wolters/Jimmer/Q-Pon/Ryan Anderson/Ajinca to end the third quarter: no surprise that did not save the team.
- Outscored by 21 in the third, by a team the Pels held to 36 in the first half.
- Maybe the play of the game by Ajinca with that dribble drive and dunk. 78-73 Raps.
- Gordon misses an open three, going the other way delayed fastbreak results in Amir Johnson putback dunk. 5 point swing 80-73 Raps.
- Interesting how the Gordon/Evans/Jimmer/Asik/Ajinca is our lineup on this run, how often have we seen this before? (Ajinca in for RyNo, who had a tough game, scoring nine points on 3-11 from the field, and being a -20.)
- Ajinca with a nice pass out of the high post to Dante Cunningham, who misses the contested layup. (Will be interesting to see if the team runs more sets through the high-post through Ajinca, he is a very willing and able passer.)
- Ajinca ties the game (and gets to a new career high with 22.). Then the next possession finds Asik for a dunk. #Ajincasance.
- Evans showing why that trade was made with the slingshot lay-in over Vasquez with 1.6 seconds left. 95-93.
- 95-93. Pels win off a game-winning shot from Evans. Ajinca MVP for the game, but the team still ride-or-die with Evans it seems.
15 responses to “Moleskin Moments: New Orleans Pelicans @ Toronto Raptors”
Now the question is, by how many points do we lose to the Knicks tomorrow? Perfect timing here playing NY, I can just see the headlines now: “Knicks end their 16-game losing streak with win over Pelicans.”
I’m hoping this jinxes us into a win, but I’m not gonna get my hopes up. Can’t wait to find out.
Pelicans will win tomorrow….bet the house on it
A loss to the Knicks would fit the patter of falling flat to lesser opponent after a big win. However, I am cautiously optimistic.
Ajinca should get some of Ryno’s minutes. He’s a liability on defense and he’s been off more than on – at the offensive end. He should probably start while AD is out too.
Logic. Our resident Doc no doubt is doing his best to put this together in some logical format for us, but this team seems to defy it. If Monty is responsible for the losses, he is likewise responsible for the wins. If he is not responsible for this win vs the Raptors, then can he truly be responsible for the loss vs the 76’ers? Give me some 42 logic so I can figure things out, because if this continues we are at the very least looking at some great betting opportunities ahead. Put the house on the Knicks and stick with the team with the longest odds to win from here on out and we will all enjoy some nice payouts, playoffs be damned!
No AD, no Jrue… No Pelicans. Monty did more good in the win than bad in thr loss, but just mentally flush these games. That is my take.
According to NBA stats, that was first time Ajinca and Asik were on the court together. In just under 18 minutes with both on the court, Pels shot 21-32fg, 48pts scored, +22. Pels 20 turn 20 ast, 9th time w/ Monty team has won with equal or more turns than assists. Last time was 3/9/14 111-107 win @ home over Denver. 24 turns, 21 ast. 7 of those 9 wins were on the road. Anderson looks much more comfortable coming off the bench than in a starting role.
Historical note: Last night Charlotte beat the Pacers 80-71 in o/t. 151 points is the lowest combined score in an overtime game in the shot clock era. The previous low combined score was when Toronto beat the N.O. Hornets 78-74 in o/t in N.O. 1/15/04. David West was on the losing team in both games but didn’t play as a rookie in 04. The Hornets/Pelicans still hold the record for losing to a team which had the fewest points scored in an o/t game (78).
PelicanSaints I’ll bet your house, not mine…..
More than anything else, this win was powered by a French made AA battery.
TPCoop And not doubt West was whining and grimacing in both!
Jason CalmesOf course but this roller coaster’s got my water bill rising as they’ve gone from single to double flushes…I’ve got to think that last watch party was not exactly a Pelican love fest?
Most of the people just socialized. There was some grumpiness, but most of what you read online is just venting and peacocking. It was a fun time, and I am sure more people will be there next time.
Winning isn’t all there is to being a fan, and most fans know that. Some people lose sight of that.
xman20002000 Pelican Poster TPCoop Yep, but of late Ryno is making a bid now to take the top spot
I just hope if we do loose its in a thriller
xman20002000 They are all going to be learning experiences from here on out especially when we have to shuffle our lineup. There were times we looked great and times we looked terrible in this game, but the inconsistency is intolerable. How can you not motivate your team to play fundamental basketball night in and night out. Match ups will always need to be adjusted for, but expecting Ajinca to go for 20 points in AD’s abscence is ridiculous. I watched this and the Knicks game pretty much back to back and we just can’t sustain consistent offense or make the fundamental play on defense. Maybe it’s the players lack of ability and we wouldn’t be able to win 3 in a row no matter who the coach but I’ve said it before – what would Thibs do with this squad? Would we still be on the Win Loss seesaw? I enjoy when we play well win or lose and hopefully we’ll get to see more fundamental basketball or at least improvement the rest of the season, because hoping for anything else is just going to leave me disappointed.