The Pelicans traveled to Dallas looking to take 2-1 -advantage in the season series. They were without guard Tyreke Evans, who was replaced by Norris Cole in the starting lineup. Also tonight was the first game with Jrue Holiday being off minute restriction, so his usage was a big thing to pay attention to. Like the two prior meetings against Dallas the game was back and forth with stretches of poor play from both sides. Overall the Pelicans played well tonight and deserved the win, they were spearheaded by Jrue Holiday and Anthony Davis something that should be theme for the rest of the season. Anytime you can get a win over a division rival on the road thats a good win, hey New Year, New Pels? Not likely, but the play of Anthony Davis and Jrue Holiday tonight was an encouraging.
MVP: Anthony Davis
Anthony Davis was all over the place this game, he finished with 31 points on only 22 shots and he did it from everywhere. The Mavericks simply had no consisntent answer for AD tonight, whether that was guarding him or boxing him out. Davis finished with 14 boards as well, but more importantly I came impressed with his overall defense. Davis was sound on his help all night, and that is going to be big for this team if his defensive rotations can remain as sharp as they were tonight. Watching Anthony Davis you sometimes forget how great he is, tonight he reminded everyone that he is still as dominant as ever.
LVP: Chandler Parsons
Chandler Parsons finished with only 6 points on 6 shots and against the Pelicans atrocious defense that has to be considered bad. Even worse for Parsons is that he didn’t add much to the Mavs anywhere else, finishing with only 1 rebound and 3 assist. In all of his 34 minutes tonight Parson did nothing to standout and I did not even realize he was playing until he made a three in the 2nd quarter. For a player of his caliber a night like tonight will give him this dubious honor.
X-Factor: Norris Cole
Norris Cole got the start and while I was skeptical of the decision, Cole delivered. He still took his usual frustrating long pull-up twos but tonight they went in. The Pelicans likely don’t win this game without Cole’s 16 points so hats off to him. I am still skeptical of his overall game but he has played well lately and it is possible that his massive early struggles were attributed due to him returning from injury.
Turning Point: Jrue Holiday layup with 6 seconds left.
The Pelicans were up 3 with 26 seconds remaining in the game, the Dallas Mavericks chose not to foul and a play for the last shot. Jrue Holiday proceeded to dribble the ball out until about 5 seconds left on the shot clock and he was able to get an iso on JJ Barea who was no match for the size and strength of Jrue Holiday. Jrue was easily able to get the lay in and give the Pels a two possession lead with only 5 seconds remaining.
Defining Moment: Anthony Davis 4th Quarter Dunk
The play was late in the 4th quarter when the Mavericks were surging, Holiday was probing the defense and got tripped and lost the ball. The ball luckily came to Norris Cole in the corner who then was able to find AD wide open in the paint for a dunk to give the Pels a 5 point lead. It was a huge play that could have easily bounced the other way, instead it gave the Pelicans a 5 point lead and enough momentum to close out the game.
That was…. Not bad at all
This Pelicans team has been marred by inconsistency all season, the only things that have been a resemblance of consistency has been the play of Jrue Holiday and Anthony Davis. They both played very well and it will be huge for the Pelicans future if those two can start gaining some type of elite chemistry with one another. That should be a main goal for the Pelicans going forward as they are proving to be the main building blocks going forward. As far as tonight goes, the whole play of the team was encouraging, the ball rarely stuck and guys were looking to pass. The defense allowed a few easy buckets but it was overall good tonight. This was the best team looked as a whole in quite sometime and as Jrue Holiday comes off minute restriction it won’t be a surprise to see this team rattle off some wins. Their next game isn’t until Wednesday in a rematch at home against these same Mavericks.