The Pelicans defeated the Lakers to climb back to .500 for the 10000000th time this season.  The win was driven by an excellent Anthony Davis performance in his first night back from injury. AD overcame a slow start and finished the night with 29 points on 11-18 shooting, 7 rebounds, 4 blocks, and 3 steals. Good to have him back.

EG, Tyreke, and Pondexter rounded out the scoring tonight and the Lakers fell flat in the 4th, scoring only 12 points. EG also added 10 assists on the night and Pondexter’s contributions on defense were greatly appreciated.

Box Score

1st Quarter

• For our first points, Omer Asik split a couple defenders with an excellent bounce pass to Tyreke, who spun and hit a reverse layup. Good omen.
• Gordon’s shot has looked good since coming back from injury.
• Dante Cunningham followed a pick/roll airball with a tremendous block on Jordan Hill, but it was negated by a foul call.  Shame.
• The Lakers offense got into the bonus with just under 4 to go in the 1st quarter. The refs didn’t seem to be doing the Pelicans any favors early on.  11 free throws for LA in the first quarter.
• The Wolters-EG-QPon-AD-Ryno looked good on offense. Context- still playing a bad defense, and probably not capable of stopping (m)any teams on the other end of the floor. But the flow was good, and players always seemed to be moving off the ball.

2nd Quarter

• The Pelicans started off the 2nd with 2 attempts to get Ryno going from deep. Unfortunately, neither went in.
• Wolters tried to squeeze a tight bounce pass to Ajinca, which led to a Lin fastbreak (FTs). Then he tried to feed someone in the high post, entry was denied. TO. Gotta clean it up. Wolters is typically good at taking care of the ball.
• Tyreke picked his spots early and had little trouble scoring. Cut, offensive rebound, drive, drive, 3 pointer.
• QPon caught the ball with a gaping hole in the center of the court and carried his man to the basket, earning the basket and a foul. The following possession, he hit a turnaround fadeaway to beat the shot clock. Then came the heat check.
• Anderson caught the ball on a skip pass, pump faked, drove, and missed.. which was fine, but then he got a technical. You can tell he’s just so frustrated right now.
• 2 turnovers trying to pass the ball inbounds in the span of 3, 4 possessions (one after a timeout). Inexcusable.
• The Pelicans closed the half with 9 turnovers, which seems to be a theme of late and is utterly outrageous vs. a team like the Lakers.

3rd Quarter

• It is so important to get AD going (shocking). Got an iso drive to the basket, scored, then promptly drilled a midrange J + got an And 1 the possession after. He wound up with 13 points in the quarter on an assortment of jumpers and drives; he also added 3 steals and 2 blocks in the period.
• Kobe got stuck in the corner vs. Cunningham and faked left 3 times in an attempt to get DC out of position and spin baseline. But help was there, so he waited, and then AD got pulled out of help position and no one else foresaw Kobe driving baseline. It was so obvious what he wanted to do.
• Tyreke overthrew AD on the last pass of the quarter and Nate Wolters covered for him by stealing the ball in transition and passing to Pondexter, who scored. Big swing.

4th Quarter

• QPon was great in this quarter. Good defense, smart play, and filling in with some points as well. His play thus far as a Pelican has been good, which is welcome given how starved we have been for wing play the last few years. He is a competent 2 way player and those are sorely needed.
• Joel and David were fawning over a turnaround left-handed shot that Kobe took, and rightfully so. It was amazing.
• Eric Gordon hit Omer Asik with well-timed passes on 2 pick and rolls in 3 possessions. 2 dunks.

It wasn’t a perfect night, but the Pelicans won by a comfortable gap versus an inferior team– and for me, that’s enough.

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