New Orleans Pelicans Grades: Pelicans’ Offense Shines in Road Win
By Rick Stone
The New Orleans Pelicans got their road trip off to a hot start, as the offense took center stage in a monster win over the T-Wolves.
When the New Orleans Pelicans gave up a season high 40 points in the first quarter, it could have very easily been game over.
Instead, the Pelicans decided to have an offensive explosion of their own.
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New Orleans went on a 94-66 run in the final three quarters and ran away with a victory, to start their four-game road trip before the All-Star Break.
The Pelicans found their shot tonight, shooting 60 percent from the field and 12-25 from behind the arc, almost 50 percent. New Orleans also found 20 free-throws on 27 attempts, helping balloon their offense even more.
This was a polar-opposite performance of what they had Wednesday night, where they scored just 94 points in a 33-point loss to the Jazz.
The star of the show was once again Anthony Davis, who scored a ridiculous 42 points on 16-22 shooting. That went along with 13 rebounds and a block.
Jrue Holiday put up a loaded stat sheet of his own, with 25 points on 10-14 shooting, 12 assists, six boards and five steals.
Another player who had a powerhouse night was Buddy Hield. Hield had a fantastic shooting game of his own, scoring 17 points on 7-10 shooting and two triples, to go with four rebounds.
On the other end, Karl-Anthony Towns led the charge for the Wolves, with 36 points and eight rebounds.
106. 86. 122. 69. Final
B+. Jrue Holiday really filled up the stat sheet tonight. 25 points, 12 assists, six boards and five steals is quite a show. So why the B+? Nine turnovers. That’s almost half of the 21 turnovers New Orleans committed in this game. The one thing Minnesota took full advantage of in this game early was capitalizing on mistakes. Jrue was making plays all night, yet kept Minny in it with some of his poor decision making. He had a fantastic game, absolutely. Still can not give him an A.. PG. . JRUE HOLIDAY
BUDDY HIELD. B+. Buddy Hield looked like the Buddy Hield fans hoped for pre-season. He made 7-10 shots for 17 points. That’s not the biggest positive, though. The biggest positive is the confidence. Buddy’s been tentative in his shot for a while now, especially when he’s missing. He got on a hot start early and as the game went on, he used his dribble moves and off-ball movement to confidently get in rhythm. It was beautiful. If he can get this to be a common occurrence and shore up the defense, he’ll be where he needs to be.. SG.
B+. Solomon Hill can really do all of the non-scoring things, for the Pelicans to win. While he only put up seven points, Hill grabbed six boards, dished out seven assists and played solid defense all night on Andrew Wiggins and the rest of the Wolves post-first quarter. This is the high point of Hill’s game. He’s not going to be the offensive weapon New Orleans thought originally. However, he’s a glue guy that does the little things. Tonight, he did them really well.. SF/PF. . SOLOMON HILL
It’s amazing how far Dante Cunningham has come, since New Orleans originally signed him. From a pure effort guy to the player in the starting lineup the Pelicans go to for open threes in the corner. Cunningham went 3-5 from behind the arc, en route to a big portion of his 12 points. He also did an excellent job, tasked to guard the Wolves’ bigs inside the paint. That’s what New Orleans wants out of him every game.. PF/SF. . DANTE CUNNINGHAM. B
A+. Anthony. Freaking. Davis. This guy is unreal, when he gets going. He had 42 points and 13 rebounds in a game stamped with his face on it. While Towns had a wonderful game of his own, the Wolves could not stop Davis from completely commanding the whole floor on the offensive end. He buried two of his three attempts from behind the arc to boot. When he’s on fire, it’s easy to conclude he can not be stopped.. C/PF. . ANTHONY DAVIS
. TIM FRAZIER. B-. One of the nicest surprises was how strong Tim Frazier was tonight. The stat sheet will not do it justice, as his 2-6 shooting from the field and 4-7 shooting from the line only accounted for eight points. However, when he and Jrue shared the floor, the offense flowed smooth as silk. Their double-trouble passing really split the T-Wolves defense in half. The defense is still a problem and his decision making did result in two turnovers and some awkward possessions. However, he’s a solid player that brings a lot, with Tyreke Evans still injured.. PG
B. LANGSTON GALLOWAY HAS RETURNED FROM THE GALLOWS! Langston looked like the ol’ sniper New Orleans loves, shooting 3-4 from behind the arc. The four rebounds off of long misses really helped as well, as the Pelicans were dealing with a team very capable of offensive rebounds. Just like a lot of the Pelicans’ shooters, when he’s on, he’s on. Tonight, he was back in full form.. SG. . LANGSTON GALLOWAY
C. Donatas’ game was not the prettiest by any means. 1-3 shooting, three turnovers and four fouls really did not help his team. The three offensive boards were great. That is something New Orleans has lacked. However, this was not a solid game from the backup big.. C/PF. . DONATAS MOTIEJUNAS
Omer Asik had four fouls in five minutes. This is a problem that is easy to see. He tried to defend Karl-Anthony Towns. He tried to be a part of the offense. However, it is just not seem to be there for him in this system. There’s a basketball player in the lengthy Asik. The problem seems to be it not being able to show, in Alvin Gentry’s system.. C. . OMER ASIK. F
Other Observations:
- To be honest, this was not a perfect game by any means for the Pelicans. Minnesota shot 6-27 from deep. However, many of those looks were wide open and uncontested. At least 18-20 of them had no one in the range of the shooter. New Orleans’ defense continues to be slow on rotations. Minny simply did not capitalize on it.
- Unfortunately, New Orleans still has a lot to work on, even after a big win. The Pelicans relied on ridiculous shooting, even with great passing in general, to climb back from a deficit that at one point was 15 points. New Orleans did not box out well as a team. They turned the ball over 21 times. The Pels missed seven free-throws. Add along the fact they committed 23 fouls and it is easy to see the areas that need to be improved all over this game.
- While it may not be a win that bodes confidence going forward, it is still a major win. Wednesday’s loss was devastatingly poor. The Pelicans needed to show up in tonight’s contest with a mentality to win. They certainly did that.
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The New Orleans Pelicans will look to get a winning streak going, as they travel on their next leg of the road trip. They will travel to Sacramento for a late game Sunday night against the Kings. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. CST.