Mirror image games for the weekend Clippers 111, Pelicans 95 Game wasn't nearly this close, Clips led by as much as 35 by taking Ingram out of the offense. Double teamed him the moment he got the ball and offense ground to a halt. He got no help either in terms of guys making shots or even positioning themselves to get the ball, and that's on Willie Green as well as the team. But as ugly as it was (and it was damned ugly), they quickly put it behind them, and.... Pelicans 133, Kings 100 ...destroyed the Kings in exactly the same fashion. Completely took De'Aaron Fox out of the game (averaging 29 ppg, he had 3) and hit the open shots they were missing Friday. Led by 50 - that's 5-0 - early in the 4th before Sac bench went a little crazy from long range in the closing minutes. Pels shoot 61% from the field, 54% from 3 (10 players attempted at least 1 3-ball, and every one hit at least 1), led by CJ McCullom, with 30 points on 7 of 10 shooting behind the arc. Ingram had 15 and 8 assists, Valanciunas 15 and 12 rebounds. Zion (leg contusion) and Jose Alvarado (non-Covid) sat, and I'm guessing neither will be there when the road trip continues Wednesday at Golden State.
Pelicans 141, Warriors 105 I know these aren't the Warrior we're used to, but this is an incredible win. Wire-to-wire, up double digits most of the game, and beat the W's at their own game, behind the arc. Pels hit 9 3's in the first quarter and were 19 of 40 (47.5%) for the game, compared to 12 of 39 (31%) for GS. Eight Pels in double figures, including Jonas with 21 and Zion with 19. Jordan Hawkins had 14 including 4 3's and even when Alvarado comes back, its looking like its getting harder and harder to keep JH out of the rotation. Best of all, 2nd game in a row where no starter had to play more than 30 minutes. That's big as they go into a brutal stretch of 5 games in 8 days, starting with a back-to-back Friday at Denver, Saturday at Dallas.
Nuggets 125, Pelicans 113 Close for a quarter and a half, then the Pels went cold into the 3rd and couldn't close. Zion had 30 and Jonas 17, but the frustrating thing to note was that with Alvardo out at the beginning of this road trip, Jordan Hawkins got 24 minutes in Sacramento and scored 12, and 14 in 21 minutes at Golden State. Tonight, Jose's back and even with everyone throwing up bricks behind the arc, Hawk doesn't see the floor until under 2:00 to play. They've got to find him minutes, because.... Pelicans 118, Mavericks 108 With Zion, BI, CJ and Trey all resting for the second game of a back-to-back, Hawk gets the start and a career-high 34 points on 6 of 12 shooting behind the arc. He is a stone-cold scorer, period plus had 5 rebounds, 4 assists.. Seven Pels in double figures, including Herb Jones with 15, Jonas with 14, 12 boards and 7 assists, and a good starting assignment for Dyson Daniels with 10 points, 7 assists and 6 boards. Doncic still out for Dallas but could play Monday afternoon when these teams run it back. Pels now tied with Sacramento for 5th in the West, four games back, and will finish this road trip at least 3-2.
Mavericks 125, Pelicans 120 Pelicans get everyone back from their day of rest and drop one to Luca-less Dallas, who was powered by 83 combined points from Kyrie Irving (42) and Tim Hardaway, Jr (41). Pels were glacier cold to start and fell behind by 16 in the first quarter, rallied behind Zion (30 points) and McCollum (23) to lead by 8 early in the fourth, and completely forgot how to box out in the last 10 minutes. Giving up 2nd chance points late, combined with just 30% shooting behind the arc and 10 missed free throws did them in. So its a 3-2 road trip that should have been 4-1 (Brandon Ingram was the invisible man the whole trip, should have stayed home for the good he did). And that's halfway....Pels are 24-17, 3-way tie for 5th in the West with Sacramento and Dallas, 5 games back. Now its a 4-game home stand before Mardi Gras, spread out over 10 days. Have to go 4-0 here, starts Wednesday with Charlotte, toughest game is the last one vs OKC.
Pelicans 132, Hornets 112 Birds sting the Bees on the strength of a franchise-record 25 made 3's (25 of 47, 53%). Brandon Ingram found his shot (he left it in the practice facility) and poured in 7 of 11 3's on the way to his 3rd career triple-double, going 28-10-10. McCollum with 22 (4 of 9 3's), Murphy with 18 (5 of 12) and Hawkins with 21 (6 of 9). Hawk appears to have displaced Jose Alvarado in the second unit. Zion had 13 points, 9 assists; they really didn't need him to score so he turned distributor and also looked good on defense. Pels now alone in 5th in the West, with 3 huge home games in the next 10 days, starting with Phoenix Friday. Pels were minor player as third team in the big Raptors/Pacers trade yesterday. Near as I can figure, we sent Indiana Kira Lewis for cash, and they will send him to Toronto. Obviously a very minor point in the trade, but its supposed to help us with the luxury tax (and don't ask me how that works).
Suns 123, Pelicans 109 Phoenix followed the "take Ingram out of the Pelicans' offense early and they won't know how to respond" formula, and it worked to perfection. Thirty degrees outdoors Friday night and the Pels were colder than that indoors. Add to it, Devin Booker was shooting like his life depended on it and it turned into a disaster very quickly. Booker had 52 and didn't play in the 4th quarter. Pels are still alone in 5th and have had a few days to brood about this one with Utah coming in tomorrow night.
Pelicans 153, Utah 124 And, that's how you put a bad game behind you, by breaking the franchise single-game scoring record! Pels broke a 6-6 tie less than 3 minutes in and ran the name-stealing Utes out of the building. 7 players in double figures, led by C.J. McCollum with 33, on 9 of 13 shooting behind the arc. Herb Jones had 22 (there are rumors floating that he could be on the trade block, which would be absolutely criminal), BI 18, and Zion 17 and a career-high 11 assists. Zion is #1 on the SportsCenter top plays with an alley-oop that Dyson Daniels almost threw in the bleachers. Zion skied and one-hand tomahawked it. Pels still in 5th in the West, 4.5 games back with Conference leader OKC coming in Friday night. Side note: Jordan Hawkins got only 4 shot attempts in 16:30, as Utah really put a defensive clamp on him. He belongs in the rotation, but I'm not a fan of Alvarado being out. He played the last 5 minutes last night and hit 3 of 4 3's. Looked like he wanted to make a statement, and my feeling is he should be ahead of Daniels in the rotation. Love what DD brings to the court defensively, but he's a liability on the offensive side.
Pelicans have lost 3 straight, to OKC, Milwaukee and Boston (tonight, after leading by 8 midway through the 4th quarter). Not getting stops and the 3-balls have dried up, although Trey Murphy showed signs of recovery tonight. He's been a basket case for the last few games. Zion has played well, though, and Matt Ryan was activated today, should be ready for the next game at Houston Wednesday.
Pelicans 110, Rockets 99 Short-handed Pels (Zion, Herb both sit with foot issues) took control early and put the game away with a 15-0 run to start the 4th quarter. Pelicans dominated the boards, 56-29, led by Jonas Valanciuanas (14, along with 25 points) and Ingram (10, along with 24 points). McCollom added 19 points. The 3-game losing streak knocked the Pels back to 7th in the West, a game behind Phoenix and Sacramento. Wrap the current 4-game road trip Friday at San Antonio, then home for a game against Toronto before another 4-game road swing.
Pelicans 138, Raptors 100 After a last 5 seconds win at San Antonio, Pels put a tired Toronto (went to double OT the previous night in OKC) team away in a hurry. Brandon Ingram becomes the first player in NBA history to put up 40+ and at least 9 assists with 0 turnovers in less than 30 minutes work. At one point in the 3rd quarter he hit 5 3's in 5 consecutive possessions, the first player to do that since the 1997-98 season. His final numbers were 41 points, 9 assists, 6 rebounds in 29 minutes. McCollum had 20 points and Zion 16, and all the starters other than Ingram played under 23 minutes. A 4-game road trip begins Wednesday at the red-hot Clippers.
