Awards: Depleted New Orleans Pelicans Blow-Out Kings

The New Orleans Pelicans somehow propelled themselves to a 114-105 win over the Sacramento Kings, despite missing both Anthony Davis and Tyreke Evans.

MVP: Ryan Anderson

For years, I’ve always thought Ryan Anderson was capable of being a nightly 20-7-2 guy on a bad team. We always talk about guys like Tyreke and Gordon being volume scorers, but in reality Anderson is more of an iso scorer than any of the guards on this roster. Anderson also turns it up when Anthony Davis is out, and he did exactly that tonight. He tied his career high of 36 points on 13/25 shooting from the floor and 5/11 shooting from deep. He also grabbed 9 rebounds and dished out 4 assists. The crazy part is that he scored 30 of those points in just the first half. That’s right, two quarters into this game Anderson was on pace to score 60. Given the recently fantastic play from him and Jrue Holiday, this game left me wondering what a starting lineup including both of them would be capable of, as oppose to the Cole-Gee-Asik starting lineups we’ve gotten used to.

LVP: Darren Collison 

Poor guy. Collison ended the game with 8 points and 3 assists on 4/10 shooting and had one of the most embarrassing misses I have personally ever seen. The Kings struggled in this game, and at times were unable to get open looks. Too often, Demarcus Cousins just bashed into the rim and their guards forced up contested shots. However, on one play the Kings somehow managed to get Collison what seemed like 15 feet of wise open space on a top-of-the-key three pointer. Collison air-balled it, and it wasn’t even close. He looked so lost after that miss, I wanted Pierre the Pelican to go up and give him a hug.

X-Factor: Bryce “Mr. 10 Day Contract” Dejean-Jones

BDJ has had a pretty sweet week. Dude doesn’t get drafted, is cut from the Pelicans’ preseason roster, is out of the NBA, and forced to play in the D-league. Then, he’s suddenly signed to a 10-day deal, thrown in the starting lineup, is playing 34 minutes a game, and on his way to making guaranteed long-term money. He had 14 points in tonight game on 5/12 shooting, including an ELITE 3/6 from deep. He also grabbed 2 rebounds, 2 steals, and had a block to round out his stat-line. I’m trying to contain my expectations, but if he is anywhere near the player he was tonight, that significantly reduces the amount of time I will have to spend watching Alonzo Gee on a nightly basis. In other words, a huge success.

Defining Moment: Anderson’s Fastbreak Three

I love when Anderson hits threes on the break. Most players fill their lanes and cut to the rim, but Anderson is always trailing on the perimeter, waiting for a smooth pass from Jrue or Tyreke. There was a moment when the poor, confused, shell-shocked Sacramento Kings were almost about to make a little comeback, and then Anderson stepped in and hit a momentum-spuashing fast break three that had Boogie Cousins burying his head in his hands. It was the perfect game defining play from the game’s defining player.

Turning Point: BDJ’s Steal

Bryce Dejean-Jones had an awesome accidental play in the fourth quarter tonight. He went for a steal with his right hand, missed, and was then was pleasantly surprised to find out that his left hand had hit the ball and he had gotten his steal anyway. He got out in fast break and earned himself two free throws. Much like Anderson’s three, it was a momentum killer. With just about two minutes left in the game, the Pelicans had gotten just one assist in the entire fourth quarter, and BDJ’s play was a nice little shift in energy that thwarted the King’s ability to make a comeback.

That was….. weirdly predictable 

Being a Pelicans fan makes no sense, we all know this. We murder the Spurs and Cavs, and get blown out by the Nuggets on a regular basis. The Pelicans’ two highest volume producers (Tyreke and AD) were both out tonight, and so I almost thought to myself  “Oh were missing our two most pivotal players? …probably means we will win by 10” before telling myself that seemed crazy. When the Pelicans rolled out the gorgeous starting lineup of Norris Cole-Alonzo Gee-Bryce DJ-Ryan Anderson-Omer Asik I should have figured they would get close a 20 point lead in the first couple quarters…

Observations:

• Jrue should be starting. He just should. I understand he seems “comfortable” on the bench but this team needs to be looking at the long-term game-plan. Long-term, Jrue is a starter and probably the third or second best player on this team. I see no reason the Pelicans shouldn’t make that clear as soon as possible.
• Anthony Davis loves seeing his teammates win. In his heart, Davis just wants to play with teammates who are at his level. He’s like a third grader who wants to be learning fractions while all his kindergartener friends are just learning to count on their fingers (though Jrue can add a little). When he sees his guys compete and win without him, he always gets into it and roots them on as they play without their leader. Some guys don’t like seeing their team win without them since it makes their impact seem smaller, Davis isn’t one of those guys.
• Bryce Dejean Jones is really athletic. I didn’t realize the hops this guys has. More than once I leaned back in my seat after seeing him chase someone down or dunk in transition. If he can be a passable shooter and defender, the Pelicans may have found themselves a fun and exciting wing player to watch in transition.

The Pelicans next three games are against the Nets, Grizzlies, and Spurs. Hopefully they can keep these random spurts of energy going.