Playing energized with their reloaded roster, the New Orleans Pelicans surged in the second half to blow past the Spurs in San Antonio on Sunday night.
Tonight, the New Orleans Pelicans played a tight game on the road in San Antonio tonight, but stayed alive and once again, Alvin Gentry found a way to engineer his team to some late magic, winning 123-114 on the road.
The Pelicans struggled to answer the Spurs’ defense in the first half, but New Orleans was able to match San Antonio’s intensity on the defensive end.
Shooting 12-of-36 (33.3%) from three-point range, the New Orleans Pelicans never found their rhythm from deep against the Spurs.
While the New Orleans starting lineup was stuck in a gridlock battle with the San Antonio Spurs, the bench found space on their offensive attack.
Playing tough on the glass, even against a hard-working bunch of San Antonio rebounders, the Pelicans outrebounded the Spurs 45-38 on the night. New Orleans hauled in 7 offensive rebounds with San Antonio grabbing 3 of their own.
Zion Williamson was once again the dominant factor in the game. He led the game in scoring and rebounds, dropping 22 points with 10 boards (2 on the offensive glass).
In his double-double effort, Zion worked through a well-seasoned defense with ease, working to the rim to go 8-of-11 from the floor. He also created contact from opposing defenders, allowing him to go 6-of-8 from the free-throw line.
Lonzo finds Zion from WAY BEYOND HALFCOURT! 👀👏#NBAPreseason pic.twitter.com/HedPrYWki9
— NBA (@NBA) October 13, 2019
Helping him along the way was a recovered Jrue Holiday, who started and played 22 good minutes of basketball after missing Friday’s game against Utah with a leg contusion. He finished with 16 points, 4 assists, and 3 steals in an across-the-board impressive effort.
The team struggled, however, to cover San Antonio’s crafty offense threat, Bryn Forbes, who lead their bunch in scoring.
Torching Pelicans defenders from three-point range, Forbes scored 18 points in 22 minutes, going 7-of-13 from the field and 3-of-6 from deep.
Like preseason clockwork, the New Orleans Pelicans’ bench found a way to get it done late in the game.
Playing close down the stretch for their third consecutive game of the preseason, the New Orleans Pelicans bench was called on to play the closing minutes of the team’s game.
The team scored 63 of the team’s 123 points and toughed-up San Antonio’s group. Gregg Popovich used his bench well, as their unit also scored 63 of their team’s 114 points. The Spurs impressive bench play made the work of Alvin Gentry’s unit even more imperative to the outcome.
Charging to the finish line once again was Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who looked sharp playing a majority of the fourth quarter. After playing hero ball on Friday against the Chicago Bulls, he faced-off with San Antonio defenders for 13 points with 8 assists.
Leading the unit, however, was first-year player Nicolò Melli, who’s starting to seem like a great option for Alvin Gentry’s bench in the regular season.
Melli played 18 minutes tonight and looked like a veteran against San Antonio. He scored 14 points, going 3-of-6 from three, finding ways to create space all over the floor. Also hauling in 9 rebounds with 2 blocks and 1 steal, Melli stuffed the stat sheet and looked crisp for the New Orleans Pelicans.
The team did struggle to contain DeMarre Carroll, who scored 13 points in 21 minutes and Marco Belinelli, who scored 11 in 18 minutes going 8-of-8 from the free-throw line.
While it was another tight one for the Pelicans, it was their fourth consecutive win of the preseason. The added effort from their bench should be a benefit for everyone headed into the regular season in a little over a week.
With just one game left before regular season play, the New Orleans Pelicans hold a perfect record on the preseason, one of ten teams in the league without a less yet on the books. They’ll wrap up their exhibition play against R.J. Barrett and the New York Knicks on Friday night.