The New Orleans Pelicans ended their six game losing streak with a thrilling win over the Dallas Mavericks on Monday night 129-125.
The New Orleans Pelicans needed something positive. They came into Monday night’s game losers of six straight and off one of the most bizarre and disappointing losses on Saturday night to the Phoenix Suns.
Key stat of the game…
34. The Pelicans came into the game fourth in the NBA in team assists at 27.1 per game. Led by point guard Elfrid Payton (more on him later) who finished with a game-high 11 assists. In fact every Pelicans player who played at least 10 minutes had at least 2 assists in the game. When they Pelicans are able to pass the ball this efficiently and keep the turnovers down, they can score with about any team in the league.
It was over when…
This one seemed like it might be turning in the wrong direction as the Mavs built a second quarter double-digit lead en route to a 10 point halftime lead. The Pelicans then came out with a strong 3rd quarter led by Julius Randle as they outscored the Mavs by 15 to take a 5 point lead heading into the fourth quarter.
After a pretty see-saw fourth quarter, the Mavs seemed poise to take the W home as they led 107-103 with under a minute left. Elfrid Payton then came down and hit a huge 3, followed by a steal from Kenrich Williams and a dunk by Randle to put the Pels up 1 with seconds to go. Luka Doncic was then fouled and had the chance to knock down 2 free throws to put the Mavs up, but he split the pair and the game went to overtime.
After a quick 3 by the Mavs to start the frame, the Pelicans quickly went on a 9-0 run to which they never looked back. After such a disappointing close on Saturday night in overtime, it was nice to see the time finish this one on the road.
Player of the game…
It’s hard to ignore another monster performance from Julius Randle who finished with 30 points and 9 rebounds. But you also cannot ignore when history is made. That happened when Elfrid Payton recorded his fifth straight triple-double joining pantheon greats such as Oscar Robertson, Wilt Chamberlain, Russell Westbrook, and Michael Jordan as the only other players in NBA history to accomplish this feat.
Payton finished the game with 19 points, 11 assists, and 10 rebounds, This is a great accomplishment for the Gretna native who has been plagued with injuries this season.
The New Orleans Pelicans are back on the road Wednesday night when they take on the Orlando Magic.