New Orleans Pelicans crush Miami Heat, win 105-91
Tonight was a bit of a surprise from a New Orleans Pelicans team that’s known for being disappointing this season. It was a back to back, against an injured and struggling Miami Heat team, and usually that’s a formula for the Pelicans to go out with a huge let down. After all, they had just finished laying an egg against the Orlando Magic the previous night so surely they’ll do it again. Except that isn’t what happened.
In a surprising turn of events the Pelicans came out and took care of business in a throttling of the Heat. Keep in mind they did this after losing Anthony Davis and Ryan Anderson, to injury, within minutes of each other. That didn’t stop them however, and after halftime the game was well out of reach for Miami, with New Orleans entering the fourth quarter up 20 points. It hasn’t happened often this season, but it was nice to see the Pelicans play a complete game from start to finish.
SG. New Orleans Pelicans. ERIC GORDON. A+. When Davis and Anderson both went down with injury everybody knew that someone would have to step up, and that someone was Eric Gordon. There was nothing Gordon could do wrong as he shredded the Heat for 24 points and was a force all night long. Gordon being good again is fun.
QUINCY PONDEXTER. C-. Quincy Pondexter started tonight in a weird starting lineup that Monty Williams ran out there, and it wasn’t very effective for Pondexter. While his defense was solid as usual the offense left a lot to be desired. Pondexter finished with five points, and was pretty forgettable on the offensive side of the ball all night.. SF. New Orleans Pelicans
C-. <strong><a href=. SG/PG. New Orleans Pelicans. TYREKE EVANS
PF/C. New Orleans Pelicans. ANTHONY DAVIS. INC. Davis left the game with a shoulder injury late in the first quarter. He was struggling for his second straight game before leaving so perhaps it was a blessing in disguise. The Pelicans need to let his shoulder heal.
New Orleans Pelicans. OMER ASIK. A-. Asik was pretty great tonight on both sides of the ball. He was efficient around the basket and his defense was top notch in an up and down season for him on that end. He only grabbed six rebounds, but that’s not a big deal. A quick look at the box score shows rebounds were spread out pretty evenly across the roster tonight.. C
Another very bad game for <strong><a href=. PF/SF. New Orleans Pelicans. RYAN ANDERSON. INC
D+. Cunningham was pretty bleh tonight. He didn’t do much and it’s time to start wondering how many of his minutes are gonna keep going to players like Pondexter.. SF/PF. New Orleans Pelicans. DANTE CUNNINGHAM
B-. Ajinca had a solid night which is something that gets said a lot about him these days. He still fouls too much and isn’t that great a defender, but he can put in solid minutes a night to night basis.<p> Jeff Withey played and it wasn’t pretty. Three fouls in six minutes is bad. </p>. C. New Orleans Pelicans. ALEXIS AJINCA
C-. Norris Cole had a great first game for the Pelicans, and it was against his former team no less. Cole has had a lot of up and down moments throughout his career, and it’s obviously just one game, but if he can play like this consistently then New Orleans might have finally found a suitable backup point guard.. PG. New Orleans Pelicans. NORRIS COLE
LUKE BABBIT. C+. Babbit isn’t too bad sometimes when he plays in a limited role. He was efficient and he didn’t ruin anything on defense. Can’t ask for much more from him.. SF. New Orleans Pelicans