Motion to rename the Pelicans to the Streak Stoppers?
Heading into tonight, New Orleans had halted the six game winning streaks of the Pistons and Clippers, along with the seven and sixteen game losing streaks of the Nuggets and Knicks. Tonight, the Pels had a shot to conquer the longest streak yet against a Hawks team that had won nineteen games in a row. What was the result, you ask?
The Pelicans didn’t just win this game; they created early separation and absolutely refused to relinquish it. They led by 10 points at the end of the first quarter, & slowly but steadily increased that lead – 13 at halftime, 14 after 3 quarters, and 15 to end the game. The letdown that many feared was coming never showed up, and New Orleans cruised to their sixth win in their past seven games. Let’s talk about how they got the job done.
- That Unibrow Guy. Lots of box score numbers jump out when reviewing Anthony Davis’ performance tonight, but the biggest one to me is the offensive rebounds total – 8. Not even including the second chance opportunities that he created for his teammates, AD earned 4 dunks and 2 free throw attempts (making one) from those 8 offensive boards. That’s 9 of Davis’ 29 points coming as a direct result of his work on the offensive glass. Add that to his 5 defensive rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks, & 1 steal, and the result is another monster performance from the Pelicans’ MVP candidate.
- Revitalized Eric Gordon. Another 20-point night for Gordon, and it only took him 11 shots to get there, largely thanks to his 4-6 shooting night from 3-point range (Korver who?). It is important to look beyond Eric’s raw shooting numbers to truly see the improvement in his game. On the ball, Gordon once again showed his effectiveness as the team’s secondary ball-handler, finishing with 7 assists compared with only 1 turnover. The open 3-point looks he is finding are just as much a result of his excellent movement around the court without the basketball as they are from the team’s improved ball movement. Another all-around great game for the Pelicans’ shooting guard, who has been nothing short of excellent over his past 13 games.
- Tyreke the Facilitator. I had to do a double-take when I saw Evans’ assist to turnover ratio tonight: 12 assists and zero turnovers. Tyreke continues to admirably fill the void left by Jrue’s injury, enough for many to question who should start at PG when Holiday returns (a topic that will not be addressed in this post tonight). The point here is that Evans is running this Pelicans offense immaculately, which means nothing but great things for the Pelicans moving forward. In Anthony Davis’ post-game interview with ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt, Davis mentioned the fact that no one on the team cares who is doing the scoring, and Evans’ play of late provides strong justification for that claim.
- High IQ Defense. One of the biggest issues of this Pelicans team earlier this season was a shortage of “high basketball IQ” guys who always know where to be and when to be there. Enter Dante Cunningham and Quincy Pondexter. Both players showed a real knack for making savvy off-ball cuts, but their major impact tonight came on the defensive end. Kyle Korver didn’t even attempt a 3-pointer until the second half, and his first one was open because Cunningham received zero help after getting screened in transition. Korver’s only other 3-point attempt was a result of a very well designed play that saw Pondexter get caught on a pick at the top of the key. Apart from those two plays, Cunningham or Q-Pon were both glued to Korver whenever he was behind the 3-point line while simultaneously knowing when it was okay to help down towards the paint. Quincy’s shooting hasn’t quite come around yet like we all had hoped, but he helps the team in so many other ways that he is a clear net positive when he’s on the court.
- Rebound Vacuum Asik. Omer collected more rebounds (17) than the Hawks’ starting front court of Paul Millsap & Al Horford combined (15), and even managed to score 1.5 points per shot thanks to converting 5 of his 6 free throw attempts. Asik’s hands of stone can be infuriating at times, but he helped the Pelicans in more ways than he hurt them tonight. As long as Asik is visibly engaged and working hard, he generally makes a positive impact for New Orleans.
- Active Ryan Anderson. It’s always a bummer when Anderson isn’t hitting his 3-pointers, but it’s even worse when he compounds those struggles by failing to make an impact in any other way offensively. Ryno only went 1-4 from 3-point range today (with his lone make coming with 30 seconds remaining), but finished with 15 points on just 10 field goal attempts. How? Movement without the ball and relentlessness in the paint. While he scored a good bit of those points late in the game (8 of his 15 came in the 4th quarter), Anderson ensured that there would be no miracle comeback for Atlanta tonight.
- Positive Contributions Everywhere. Apart from a couple of bone-headed turnovers from Jimmer Fredette along with a few minutes for John Salmons who should never play another minute for the Pelicans ever, everyone did their part to propel New Orleans to victory over a very talented opponent. Looking back on the game, there is really nothing else I can be upset about. I would have liked to see Ajinca replace Salmons in the Fredette-Pondexter-Salmons-Anderson-Asik lineup that played about 4 minutes tonight against the Hawks second unit (outscored by 3 points in that time), but that’s only a minor gripe in the grand scheme of things. A well-coached and well-played game overall that really makes you feel good as a fan of the team.
- Push, Paint, Profit. Before the game, I mentioned two main scoring avenues on which to focus based on the way that both of these teams play – transition and points in the paint. Both teams typically do a very good job in preventing their opponents from scoring in transition, and tonight, the Pelicans nearly doubled up the Hawks in fast break points (17 to 9). From an interior offense perspective, the Pelicans’ knack for scoring inside prevailed over the Hawks’ usually strong restricted area defense, and while New Orleans didn’t do a particularly great job of keeping Atlanta out of the paint, they won the overall battle 52-46. Therefore, the Pelicans held a +8 advantage in transition scoring and a +6 edge in points in the paint. 8+6=14. The Pels won by 15. Hmmmmmmmmmm.
On Wednesday, the Pelicans have a huge match-up in New Orleans against the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Pels are two games ahead of OKC in the standings and one game behind Phoenix for the 8th seed, and a win in one of their next two games (New Orleans plays in Oklahoma City on Friday night) would secure the tie-breaker for the Pels should they finish with the same record as the Thunder. Incredible win tonight, and hopefully more of the same is on the horizon!
15 responses to “Pelicans Halt Hawks’ Win Streak at 19 with Convincing 115-100 Victory”
Gordon’s passing tonight was outstanding. He could have easily had 10 assists, if not for some guys missing a few wide open shots. I’m so glad we’ve held on to Eric. I think he’s finally buying in, and we really need him.
Also, good to see Jimmer contributing. QPon and Cunningham have been solid pickups by Demps. I was sad to see Austin go, but clearly it appears that the trade had helped us.
I predict we’ll rip through OKC like a wet paper bag. This team is hungry, and opponents are going to have to bring their A game to challenge us at home.
Hire Monty?
Great recap, Mason. More importantly, great win. I’ve been one of the few believers in the Pels making the playoffs this whole season, and I really don’t understand why so many people had completely lost faith in the team when they were only a few games back. The Pels seem to have finally gotten it together (Gordon really helps that. I like what nolahog said about him finally buying in and it paying off, because that’s a big contributing factor in the winning attitude right now). I’m interested to see what happens when Jrue gets back. Hopefully no continuity issues.
This jumped out at me most: “a couple of bone-headed turnovers from Jimmer Fredette along with a few minutes for John Salmons who should never play another minute for the Pelicans ever”. I think all of Jimmer’s 4 turnovers (including his botched defensive rebound) in 21 minutes lead to easy baskets for Atlanta.
So we need Jrue back, a better backup PG, and Ajinca to play over Salmons? Works for me. Play of the rest of the team looks like they are coming together nicely.
To be honest, I don’t think backup PG is even a concern for the Pelicans with a healthy Jrue & Tyreke. That’s 48 PG minutes right there, plus time for both of them together.
MasonGinsberg Operative word is “healthy”. Also, we may need to limit Jrue’s minutes when he returns.
Not if you’re playing NOLA!
It was a great win! With this team’s Jekyll and Hyde personality I was set for a let down but they showed up and won the second of two huge back-to-back games. Everything about the team looked good last night – even the coaches looked engaged and happy at their preparation and execution. I was happy to see both EG10 and AD encourage the crowd to come out last night and they did not disappoint.
How long have we waited for EG10 to come back to form and he’s looking real good. I’m hoping he’s enjoying his time with the fellas, as a Pelican and in the Gulf Coast region. I said fire Monty and two good wins does make me feel stupid. I appreciate that John Salmons is working for his money but he really shouldn’t ever hit the floor especially with Babbitt on the bench but Monty has to manage those egos and that’s the only reason I see John Salmons on the floor in a real game.
We have the talent to win against Oklahoma, so let’s get this done Pelicans.
504ever Good job, way to check the box score before disseminating info. Jimmer had 3, not 4 turnovers.
Also, maybe you should take a look at the play by play for the first 4 minutes of the second quarter and see how many of Jimmer’s 3 turnovers turned into “easy baskets for Atlanta”.
http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/playbyplay?gameId=400579014&period=2
I’ll give you a hint, it starts with ze and ends with ro.
That said, I would certainly prefer that he not turn the ball over at all.
504ever You know something? Sorry for the snippy tone. But I wanted to set the record straight.
thoallan 504ever I have on more than one occasion stated my own desire to see Jimmer get some time on the court. He certainly can score when given the opportunity, but in person I witnessed him struggle mightily against ATL’s more athletic guards, with the problem being that most others are just like them…last night the book may as well have been written as “double Jimmer on the PnR” because when they did so he could not pass around/over the double. Perhaps it was technique, or maybe he was holding it too long, or maybe he needs more time to give it a try. I like the dude and want him to be the guy we need to come in and give us a lift, and I long for the game where the cards fall just right and he catches fire for 20+, but there is no doubt that there are some concessions we incur when he is in. As with most players, the question is whether he is producing more positive vs negative, and even with last night’s negatives, I think his positives outweighed them when it counted.
MasonGinsberg I’ve been feeling that way for quite a while too…tis why I think we may almost need a good backup SG so that the rotations could just about go 5 in 5 out like Denver used to do. I don’t recall many teams with their entire starting lineup being all stars, because there is just no way for all of them to share the rock as much as each would want. That is also why I am elated with the play of Cunningham and Pondexter who are similarly styled role players who perhaps fit the role, more so that fill the void. Therein lies the ability of the starts to do their thing and the role players to compliment them nicely. While I don’t like seeing our starters down for too long, I do worry if the rotations stay short for too long that perhaps we have no legs left at the end of this race. Perhaps you guys can compare Jrue’s minutes when healthy vs the standard playing time for most good PG’s just to see if he is carrying extra time on his legs and causing some physical issues. I doubt it is, but am curious about it.
xman20002000 And took the Warriors to OT without A.D.!!!!!
thoallan 504ever Regardless whether it was 3 or 4, his turnovers were terrible and you can see his pocket picked all too often. Just seemingly too slow with the ball. He did chase down one of his losses and took the ball back and that was great to se as opposed to some guys who just foul the player that got the steal (thereby making two mistakes).
On the other hand, this guy has ice water running through his veins when he is at the line.
No one has mentioned the most important part of last night’s game. It took place on the Jumbotron when the crowd got to see “The Special Man”!! Not only is AD really “The Special Man” (double entendre) BUT he really “Let them have it” with 19 points and 7 boards in the first half (somewhat limited by his 2 fouls). Special Man indeed!!