New Orleans Pelicans Awards: Pelicans escape with a hard fought victory against the Brooklyn Nets

The New Orleans Pelicans escaped their home arena with another big win against the feisty Brooklyn Nets 105-103.

A game that looked on paper like an easy win was all but that as the New Orleans Pelicans barely escaped their home turf with a win against the Brooklyn Nets.

New Orleans found themselves down as much as nine points in the first half, as they were limited to just 44 points in the first 24 minutes of the game. The Pelicans responded with a strong third-quarter and found themselves right in the thick of things late in the game. Jrue Holiday and Joe Johnson traded late-game buckets, however Jrue got a second late-game shot to go to take the lead, while Joe Johnson hit the back of the rim on his halfcourt heave to try and win the game at the buzzer.

Jrue Holiday, Anthony Davis and Ryan Anderson finished over 20 points in the game, carrying the offensive load for the team. The Pelicans found struggles trying to stop Brooklyn’s Brook Lopez. Lopez finished the contest with 33 points and 10 rebounds, along with four blocks and three steals. In a game the interior defense had it’s struggles, New Orleans found a way to get a much needed win.

MVP: Anthony Davis

It’s near impossible to go against Anthony Davis for the MVP of the game with his stat line, even with his disastrous first half shooting. He scored 20 points in the second half and added along 16 rebounds and two blocks 40 minutes. Sure, his struggles from the field in the first half made this game trickier than it had to be, but he’s coming off a scary concussion injury and is just getting back on the floor. It takes some time to find your rhythm back on the floor, which Alvin Gentry helped him get just that in the beginning of the second half. When it comes to long term success, getting your superstar back to comfortable, confident form is the most important thing for a team. The Pelicans got just that tonight.

LVP: Norris Cole

While Anthony Davis responded well to a slow start, Norris Cole never found any rhythm in any part of the game today. Sure, he finished with 12 points and five assists, but it was so much more how the team played with him on the floor. He did a pretty poor job at getting the ball movement going and stalled the offense. When he wasn’t forcing up contested looks, he turned the ball over three times. That was all paired with his sub-par defense that got him in foul trouble early and helped the Nets get chances at the free-throw line. Norris Cole has had a lot asked for him in the starting role, more than he’s capable of. However, he has to adjust for the Pelicans to continue to have success during this strong stretch of basketball.

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X-Factor: Pelicans prosper from Nets missed opportunities

Tonight was overall shaky game from New Orleans, especially in the first half. However, the Pelicans found a saving grace from the Brooklyn Nets. The Nets finished the game with 10 turnovers, which doesn’t seem like a ton, however Brooklyn’s lack of speed and very slow offensive sets makes every possession lost so much more to them than most teams. They also missed nine of their 23 free-throw attempts in the game, leaving _ points on the table they should have had. Brook Lopez missed five of his 12 attempts from the line, a big factor in the deficit being reachable for the Pelicans to come back from. Brooklyn missed chances all night, however the Pelicans did their job taking advantage.

Turning Point: Getting Anthony Davis going

Anthony Davis scored zero points in the first half. The Pelicans absolutely needed him to get going in the second half to have a chance in this game. They did that with great play-calling and spacing to give him room inside. After his first miss from the field in the third, he finally made his next attempt from the field. He followed that make with three more consecutive makes from the field and five total makes from the field in the quarter. It helped the Pelicans turn a seven-point halftime deficit to a five-point lead heading into the final frame. Shouldn’t be shocking, but getting the superstar of the team going is massive to team success.

Defining Moment: Double clutch shots from Jrue Holiday

Man, when the Pelicans needed a shot late, Jrue Holiday delivered. With 19 seconds left, Jrue made a three-pointer to give the Pelicans a three-point lead. After Joe Johnson responded with a three of his own, Jrue got another look, this time with just 6.9 seconds on the clock. He nearly lost his dribble before hitting a fadeaway two-pointer over his defender. After a missed heave from halfcourt, the Pelicans got their win. It sure wasn’t pretty for the first 47 minutes, but Jrue Holiday made it all as pretty as could be at the end.

Next: Anthony Davis' 2015-2016 season as a Pelican

That was……..an ugly sigh of relief

The New Orleans Pelicans are the more talented basketball team. That was pretty clear even without looking at the records. However, New Orleans came out flat and disjointed. It took changes in the second half to get them back into the contest and helped keep them hanging around until they could finish the game off with strong offensive execution against a slow Nets defense. Every win has massive importance for the Pelicans right now. This one counts just as much as the rest.

The next game for the Pelicans will continue the Pelicans home stretch on February 1st against the Memphis Grizzlies. Tip is scheduled for 7:00 PM CST.