New Orleans Pelicans finish second half rally beat Sacramento Kings 106-100
A night after blowing a fourth quarter lead in Portland the New Orleans Pelicans found themselves trailing the Sacramento Kings by nine points at halftime. Instead of packing things in though and going home with a “schedule loss” the Pelicans fought back and stole a win behind Anthony Davis, Ryan Anderson and Tyreke Evans. It wasn’t easy but the Pelicans kept finding answers to any Kings run and ultimately prevailed 106-100.
100. 84. 106. 69. Final
JRUE HOLIDAY. A. <strong><a href=. PG. New Orleans Pelicans
ERIC GORDON. A+. <strong><a href=. SG. New Orleans Pelicans
Tyreke was quiet in the first half but got things going in the second half. He continues to struggle in transition and at the rim but is making up for it in other ways like his three-point shooting and ability to create a shot seemingly at will. The dagger he hit over <strong><a href=. SF/PG/SG. New Orleans Pelicans. TYREKE EVANS. B+
A+. Grading Anthony Davis is really hard. He struggled at times in keeping <strong><a href=. PF/C. New Orleans Pelicans. ANTHONY DAVIS
RYAN ANDERSON. A. At halftime Anderson was 1-7 from three and the Pelicans trailed. In the second half he poured in threes and the Pelicans won. There is no coincidence here. Anderson is as important to the Pelicans as any player not named Anthony Davis. . PF/SF. New Orleans Pelicans
New Orleans Pelicans. AUSTIN RIVERS. C. Rivers didn’t really do anything memorable in a good or bad way. He was just kind of there. . PG/SG
New Orleans Pelicans. JOHN SALMONS. HA. Five minutes, one missed shot, nothing else and a minus one plus/minus on the night. <strong><a href=. SF
New Orleans Pelicans. LUKE BABBITT. B. Babbitt struggled on defense but his impact on the New Orleans offense was clear. He continuously made the extra pass to get . SF
With <strong><a href=. C. New Orleans Pelicans. ALEXIS AJINCA. B
Other thoughts:
- Sign me up for Boogie vs. Brow battles forever. The two are clearly the best young big men in basketball and are both playing as well as anyone in the league. Neither one disappointed tonight. Davis finished with 28 points, nine rebounds, two assists and three blocks. Cousins finished with 24 and 17. Both players seemed to make a play just when their team needed it. It was just wonderful to watch.
- This was a massive win for the Pelicans. They defeated a team that could potentially be competing with them at the end of the season for a playoff spot on the road on the second night of a back-to-back. This seemed destined to be a schedule loss and at halftime I thought it was going to be exactly that. Instead the Pelicans battled back and found a way to win. This will come in handy later on this year.
- It was also nice to see the Pelicans bounce back from the rough fourth quarter last night and hold off a late Kings’ run. It takes some mental fortitude to do that, especially for a team with a bunch of young players. Good for them.