Pelican Debrief’s Preston Ellis (@PrestonEllis) talks over the New Orleans Pelicans’ massive win over the Houston Rockets, where the offense caught fire.
What Happened with the New Orleans Pelicans tonight!?
The Pelicans won 128-112, behind the unconscious play of the unlikeliest of heroes. The game was never in doubt. Shocking!
Could this be another #alternativefact!?
The Rockets had beaten the Pels by a combined 52 on the year, including a 30 point drumming in the beginning of the Boogie era just 11 games ago. But tonight was a thing of sorcery. And the witch king to lead the Pelicans was none other than Solomon Hill. Still sound crazy?
The Pels went up 31-19 in the first quarter. Houston would not get closer than nine points after that. They led by as many as 23 in the contest and held a 14-18 point lead throughout the majority of the game.
The Rockets got as close as 11 in the fourth, when Alvin Gentry sputtered a few “Not So Nice” for t.v. remarks into his timeout declaration. Other than that, the game was a runaway.
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This game felt a little strange right from the get go. New Orleans’ new hero Solomon Hill got out to a 14 point start in the first quarter, with four assists on just five shots!
He finished the game with a career high 30 points, a career high seven assists, six rebounds, two steals and all of this on TWELVE SHOTS. What universe are we living in!? He got to the free throw stripe nine times and sank eight of those looks.
If it don’t sound crazy enough yet, things are about to get even stranger. The first ten points belonged to Solomon Hill and Wayne Selden Jr. Yes, Wayne Selden. The ten day contract, never played before NBA 23-year old artifact from Kansas. He scored 11 points on 4/5 shooting and shooting 3-4 from deep.
The Pels closed the 1st quarter with 36 points, a season high for points in the first. They did it on 12 assists on 13 made shots. Purely inexplainable. The Rockets sputtered early, going 39 percent from the field and 33 percent from behind the arc.
Things started unraveling quickly for the Rockets, as Pat Beverly and Ryan Anderson picked up technical fouls in the 2nd quarter. It seemed like the Rockets flopped and whined all game.
That was led by their leaders of flopping and whining in pest Patrick Beverly, Ryan Anderson, and James Harden. Harden, as usual, would get away with several sneaky flops. That includes one hilarious face grab, while defending against Anthony Davis. Harden would pretend as if Davis had literally upper cutted him.
This young man has a future in film when all is said in done. It’s so aggravating watching him, but hey, if you get the calls…
But, you know that if he was on your team, you’d cheer and jump out of your seat at every conclusion of one of these obscene gestures. But it’s most excruciating part of James Harden’s game. While he is the mastermind and expert at it, it may rub off on the rest of the league.
Anywhoooooo…
The Pelicans impressed the NBA world in the 2nd. With a lineup of Tim Frazier, E’Twaun Moore, Jordan Crawford, Dante Cunningham and Alexis Ajinca. That lineup not only held the lead, but they extended it to 18 points.
A.D. entered at the five minute mark and with Ryno’s tech at the three mintue mark, the Pels pushed the game to as much as 21 points in the first half at 64-43.
At halftime, the game score stood at 68-50. Fans all thought we were only living in a dream.
The Pels shot an insane 51 percent from the field in the first half. They also went 7-21 from deep and dominated in the paint battle, scoring 34 paint points to Houston’s 18.
The third got off to a bumpy start, with Trevor Ariza and Patrick Beverly sinking two threes to prompt a 6-0 run. That would result in a Alvin Gentry timeout tantrum, with only 45 seconds having gone by.
However, it was much of the same in the period. The period ending locked at 30-30, behind 14 points from James Harden in just that quarter. It also featured a nasty crossover by E’Twaun Moore on Pelicans’ villain Eric Gordon, that knocked him out of his boots.
The game got a little interesting with 5:27 left, as the Rockets used a 14-4 run to get within 11, 114-103.
However, they would never get closer than that. New Orleans would run away with the victory from there.
Next: Grades from New Orleans Pelicans' Big Win Versus Houston Rockets
The Pels move to 28-41 on the season, while the Rockets fall to 47-22. The Pels have won three of their last four and travel to Minnesota on Sunday. They get set to battle A.D.’s classic foe, Karl Anthony Towns. Houston travel on the back end of a back-to-back to Denver, as they face the Nuggets. Hopefully, they can help the Pels out again by winning.