The New Orleans Pelicans woke the beast
By Nathan Heck
The New Orleans Pelicans treated the home fans to something rare: a competitive and exciting game. The Smoothie King Center responded in equal fashion.
The New Orleans Pelicans showed up to a familiar scene in the Smoothie King Center on Friday night. Less than half-full at the time of tip, the arena was noticeably quiet, something that has become all too common. Attendees were able to hold conversations with their neighbors at a reasonable volume and almost everyone had an extra seat to provide elbow room.
While that would be ideal for a quiet evening with friends, the atmosphere for a professional basketball game should be dramatically different. When one takes a look at the great home crowds of the league, whether it be Oklahoma City, San Antonio or Golden State, something is decidedly missing in New Orleans: intensity. The fans, mirroring the on-court effort level, have become noticeably tame as the Pelicans have plummeted to irrelevancy. The Pelicans, and the fans, changed their stripes on Friday night.
After a competitive first half, the crowd was still subdued, lulled into a state of disillusionment as a result of the losses endlessly piling up. Something needed to wake the beast, the sleeping giant of a home crowd, and that something turned out to be Ryan Anderson. After briefly sparking cheers through the first half, Anderson had the entire crowd on their feet, screaming their lungs out as the third quarter came to a close.
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Stepping back behind the three point line, the ball left Anderson’s hand just before the buzzer sounded. The crowd fell silent; the ball seemed to hang in the air for an eternity, endlessly rotating and inching ever closer to the rim. Then, in an instant, the ball fell through the hoop cleanly. The crowd erupted; the giant had awoken.
The fourth quarter seemed like an entirely new game. From the moment the ball was inbounded, the home crowd was laser-focused on the action taking place on the hardwood. Gone were the conversations about work, neighbors and family events; all eyes and all thoughts centered on the team, and the Pelicans responded by putting on one heck of a show.
Featuring runs by both teams, the ensuing quarter was a seesaw of action. The emotions of the Pelicans’ faithful ranged from dejected to complete ecstasy. Kemba Walker, one of the most dangerous clutch players in the NBA, sucked the wind out of the sails by hitting a game-tying three with less than thirty seconds on the clock. In an instant, the game felt like something familiar. The Pelicans were going to give the game away in the final seconds, and this would just be another loss to add to the depressing total. This time, though, the game would end differently.
Jrue Holiday received the inbounds pass and leisurely brought the ball up the court to prevent the Hornets from having any time to respond. Anderson and Anthony Davis both set screens, and then, there was an explosion. Rolling to the basket, Davis caught the picture-perfect lob from Jrue Holiday to smash the ball through the rim with only two seconds remaining. The cheers morphed into a roar, one unified mighty scream of victory. But, the game was not over yet.
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The Hornets still had two seconds to try to tie the game or win. Anthony Davis played suffocating defense on the player inbounding the ball, and the crowd bore teeth once again as he tipped the pass back out of bounds, stealing a precious .3 seconds from the Hornets. On the second try, Jeremy Lin had an open look at the rim, but Jrue Holiday intentionally fouled before Lin could get the shot up. Once again, the singular being the fans had become voiced its excitement.
With their last attempt, Nicolas Batum took a heavily contested three pointer, which predictably missed. With that, there was a primal scream. The passion of the fans matched the elation the players displayed. Not only had the Pelicans won, but they won a tightly contested game, something they have struggled with all season.
The fans had been lulled into complacency, but they were awoken by the fire, by the intensity, of the New Orleans Pelicans.