Pelicans Win Again, Top Nuggets for 5th Straight
By Spencer Darr
No Davis, no problem.
Despite another night without the trio of Anthony Davis, Ryan Anderson, and Jrue Holiday, all of them starters, the Pelicans were again victors. That makes 5-straight for New Orleans, picking up a 99-92 win on the road against the Denver Nuggets.
How does a team without three starters still win? It takes a lot of team spirit, according to Tyreke Evans.
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“Guys are stepping up, names are getting called, gotta play 40 minutes of hard basketball.” What’s not clear is whether Evans only cares about guys playing hard when he’s on the floor, or if he thinks the NBA plays according to college rules.
Mar 1, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; New Orleans Pelicans guard Norris Cole (30) shoots the ball during the first half against the Denver Nuggets at Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports
Mistakes were made by the Pelicans: continuing their trend of turning the ball over (15 TOs) combined with poor rebounding (15 offensive boards).
New Orleans attempted only 74 shots to the Nuggets 92. The team also wasn’t great from deep, going 5-22 for a not-so-impressive 22% from 3-point range.
Despite the turbulence, the Pelicans found a way to shine defensively and score enough timely buckets to earn a season-high fifth straight win.
Going into tonight’s game Denver looked like an easy opponent on the road to the playoffs. In Friday’s 104-82 loss to the Nets, Nuggets players broke their huddle “1…2…3…6 weeks!”, referring to the amount of time left until the end of their season.
That apathy was sure to derail any hope of victory against the streaking Pels, right?
Alas, the Nuggets were more concerned with basketball than Cancun this evening. They competed mainly due to unexpected contributions: Randy Foye tripled his season average with 17 points (5-8 3PA) and Danilo Gallinari was playing like he used to two season-ending injuries ago, doubling his average with 18 points.
Quadrupling his season ppg average, Will Barton‘ double-double was the surprise of the night, scoring 16 points and ripping down 10 rebounds.
The game was very literally even going into the third quarter, with the score flush at 68. Neither team could establish an edge, exchanging the lead 9 times, with 9 ties throughout the game.
The Pelicans jumped out early, leading after the first quarter 21-16. Omer Asik was excellent, snagging 8 boards off the glass in the period. He finished with 16 rebounds overall, adding 9 points and 3 assists.
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It looked like it might not be enough of an effort, when Jimmer checked into the game. Playing 10 entire minutes he managed to add to his historically awful shooting averages (18% from deep), missing the only 3-pointer he attempted.
Eric Gordon wasn’t great either in the first half, going 0-4 on threes. He rounded it out later, ending up with 18 points on 3/10 3PA and 3/4 on two-point attempts (6/14 overall FGA).
Mar 1, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; New Orleans Pelicans guard Eric Gordon (10) shoots the ball over Denver Nuggets forward Kenneth Faried (35) during the first half at Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports
He missed his first free throws (3/5) since January, after going 26/26 in February on FTA. His performance has been vastly improved in 2015 and will be critical in the final stretch of the season.
Tyreke Evans turned in another stat-stuffer of a night, 22 pts 7 rebs 7 ast, with total efficiency (7/14 FGA 8/11 FTA). He paced the team all night in a game where the Pelicans often led. When the game was in question in the 4th, Evans was steady – scoring 9 of his 22 points in the final 5:07.
Dante Cunningham chipped in 14 points on 7/12 FGA as one of five double-digit scorers for New Orleans. The Bench Krewe contributed the other two: Norris Cole with 10 pts 3 ast and Alexis Ajinca racking up 10 pts 6 rebs and 3 ast. The team moved the ball around well all night, tallying 22 assists (61% of their FGM).
This is the longest win streak for the Pelicans since March 21-28 of 2014, an accomplishment completed when the playoffs where already well out of reach for the team.
This is much more meaningful with the playoffs just in reach. The win tonight puts the team a half game out of the 8-seed.
Oklahoma City is currently without its top two players, but still found a way to win against the Lakers Sunday afternoon to hang onto to the 8-seed.
Neither team seems to be able to stay at full health, but the advantage goes to the Pelicans if both teams stays equally depleted.
Russell Westbrook underwent surgery to repair a fractured cheek and was out Sunday, but may make it back into the lineup this week. Davis also looks to comeback this week if cleared.