Anthony Davis Leads New Orleans Pelicans over Spurs 100-99
The New Orleans Pelicans grabbed a win Saturday night against the San Antonio Spurs 100-99, in what turned out to be a thriller. Anthony Davis made a game winning layup with 6.6 seconds left in the game after the Pelicans led for a majority of the contest, including by 10 points at one point, before allowing the Spurs to tie the game prior to Davis’ game winner.
29. 100. 69. Final. 99
PG. New Orleans Pelicans. JRUE HOLIDAY. B. Jrue played well Saturday, posting a double-double. At times, it seemed like he could do no wrong on the offensive end of the floor. Defensively, Jrue played well, but at times forgot to close out on shooters, and was caught ball watching when playing off ball.
C+. I almost had to go down to a “D” for Eric when he fouled <strong><a href=. SG. New Orleans Pelicans. ERIC GORDON
SF/PG/SG. New Orleans Pelicans. TYREKE EVANS. B+. Tyreke has been playing very well this year, and that didn’t change Saturday. He was effective on the offensive end of the floor in the pick-and-roll, and shooting jumpers. Defensively, he was good, but had a couple of the same mistakes as Gordon and Holiday. If Tyreke can continue to play like this all year, there won’t be a need for anyone else to start at the small forward position for the Pelicans.
A++. He hit the game winner, had six blocks, and dominated on both ends of the floor. There was a moment where <strong><a href=. PF/C. New Orleans Pelicans. ANTHONY DAVIS
B. My favorite part of the night for Asik was that he only played 26 minutes. He continued to be the rim protector he’s made his name on, and converted on three of his four shots. Basically, he had an <strong><a href=. C. New Orleans Pelicans. OMER ASIK
C. Sub par night for Anderson, but what he was missing on offensive, he didn’t give up on defense. That’s something that this team will need to get out of all of it’s players.. PF/SF. New Orleans Pelicans. RYAN ANDERSON
B. His counting stats weren’t gaudy, but when he was on the floor, everything seemed to move smoothly. For a guy who had questions surrounding his NBA talent, he has been playing good enough to be considered a legitimate NBA rotational player. . PG/SG. New Orleans Pelicans. AUSTIN RIVERS
New Orleans Pelicans. ALEXIS AJINCA. D-. He didn’t get an F tonight, but he has to stop fouling more than scoring if he’s going to hold onto whatever minutes he still has after tonight. If Ajinca can’t get out of this slump of play, <strong><a href=. C
PG/SG. New Orleans Pelicans. JIMMER FREDETTE. C-. He didn’t do anything horrible, didn’t do anything amazing, but he saw time.Sometimes, all you have to do on the court is not screw up.
Other Observations:
- The Pelicans made their free throws again. After shooting horribly from the foul line to start the season, the Pelicans shot 85.7 percent from the charity stripe tonight. They will need to keep up above the 75 percent range at the line in order to not throw away games.
- Jimmer Fredette and Austin Rivers both missed their single attempts from behind the three point line, but the team as a whole shot 38.1 percent from downtown. Above the league average from long range will help the Pelicans out a lot if they can keep up this pace.
- Anthony Davis. Our Overlord. There isn’t another player in the league under that age of 24 that I would want on my team today if I was starting a franchise. If you hadn’t heard, this might be his coming out party for super star level player in the league. Maybe that number three ranking wasn’t as insane as some (including me) thought.