New Orleans Pelicans steal one vs the Memphis Grizzlies, win 95-89
Someway, somehow, the New Orleans Pelicans stole a victory tonight against the Memphis Grizzlies. After last night’s horrible loss, to the Boston Celtics the Pelicans, the Pelicans needed a good win to keep them in the playoff race with the Oklahoma City Thunder and Phoenix Suns. Well, when the game had tipped off it looked like New Orleans was going to do the opposite, because the Grizzlies proceeded to put a beat down on the Pelicans. New Orleans couldn’t get anything on offense going largely due to the Grizzlies physical nature. They out physicaled New Orleans on both ends of the floor, and at one point led by 18. The Pelicans managed to close it to 12 before the end of the half, but the damage had been done. New Orleans was completely outplayed and they were on their way to what looked like a brutal loss.
Then they decided to do what the Pelicans do best, and that’s do a complete and total 360! The same exact team that lost to the Celtics came out of the half and proceed to blitz the Grizzlies. They played faster, moved better on sets, were stronger, and worked all the way to a lead midway through the third quarter. From that point on it was a seesaw battle of offense vs defense, and nobody was sure who would win. No particular players were sticking out any more than expected and whoever was going to win was gonna need some big plays.
For New Orleans, those plays came from Eric Gordon and Tyreke Evans. While Anthony Davis was his usual awesome self, it was those two that pushed the Pelicans over the edge and let them steal a victory over Memphis in a game they probably should have lost.
Final. 89. 211. 95. 69
B+. Eric Gordon played really well tonight, and pretty much lived on the 3-point line. Five of his six shot attempts were 3-pointers and he made three of them. Gordon also managed to rack up six assists which is impressive for a guy that usually is looking to score.. SG. New Orleans Pelicans. ERIC GORDON
New Orleans Pelicans. TYREKE EVANS. B+. Tyreke Evans continues his role as the Pelicans starting point guard while Holiday is injured, but he’s usually switching back over to the wing before the game is over. He didn’t shoot well from deep, but Evans still had an efficient night scoring 26 points on 16 shot attempts, and racking up seven assists. He might be frustrating at times, but Evans has really been just as much of a reason for the Pelicans playoff contention this season as Anthony Davis.. SF/PG/SG
Quincy Pondexter didn’t score much tonight, but he found other areas to contribute on offense to go with his usual good defense. He dished out seven assists and pulled down five assists, all while keeping Courtney Lee in check. He did however struggle when it came to guarding Jeff Green.. SG/SF/PF. New Orleans Pelicans. QUINCY PONDEXTER. B-
ANTHONY DAVIS. B+. Hard to see but Anthony Davis actually struggled a bit tonight. The Grizzlies gave him fits and got him off to a slow start. Even though he scored 23 points it took him 21 shots to get there which is unlike him. He still managed to do something crazy though and swat away five shots. PF/C. New Orleans Pelicans
New Orleans Pelicans. OMER ASIK. A-. Asik was fantastic tonight. He played some great defense, pulled down 11 rebounds, and even though he was one of the many that struggled with turnovers half with turnovers, he made up for it in the second half by going the rest of the game without giving the ball away.. C
New Orleans Pelicans. NORRIS COLE. C+. Norris Cole played well, but he also didn’t play well. He shot 13 times and only scored 12 points, and he didn’t really contribute too much on the offensive end. He did however manage the game well in spots, and played some great on ball defense. When/if Jrue Holiday returns expect a drop in Cole’s minutes that will probably help his numbers.. PG
New Orleans Pelicans. ALEXIS AJINCA. C-. These are the kinds of games Ajinca struggles in. He’s shown this year that he can be a suitable backup at the right times, but a gigantic team like the Grizzlies can push him around. Six points five rebounds isn’t bad, but it’s not exactly game changing either.. C
D+. Dante Cunninngham’s slide continues, and his ability to help the team is lessening every game. He was horrible on offense tonight against a Grizzlies defense that left him completely outmatched. His one saving grace was he played some solid defense in the second half.. SF/PF. New Orleans Pelicans. DANTE CUNNINGHAM
SF. New Orleans Pelicans. LUKE BABBITT. INC. Four minutes, one block, one turnover, and a lot of people that forgot he played tonight.
INC. Elliot Williams played his first game with the Pelicans tonight. He shot twice and missed both of his shots in the four minutes he played. It’s nice to have depth, but not a lot of confidence that he’s going to make it to another 10 day right now.. PG/SG. New Orleans Pelicans. ELLIOT WILLIAMS
Tweet of the night:
Awesome, Pels beat the second best team in the West. Probably will lose to the Nets.
— James Grayson (@jsgrayson) March 8, 2015