Trusting key veterans Holiday and Redick, the New Orleans Pelicans are continuing to improve with performances like Sunday’s against Golden State.
The New Orleans Pelicans are starting to find their groove, in part because they’re starting to develop on-court chemistry and in part because their key players are finally starting to play up to their expected levels.
Leading the Pelicans to a 108-100 victory, the team improved to 4-9, winning the second game of a tough back-to-back thanks in large part to J.J. Redick and Jrue Holiday.
The team had a key game against the similarly injury-scorched squad in the Golden State Warriors, who have even less firepower than this New Orleans Pelicans unit.
Redick was overall the biggest factor in the team’s victory. He led the team in scoring with 26 points, going 6-of-11 from three-point range. Playing plenty of solid defense and noticeably coaching up his younger teammates on the floor, Redick gave the team a true veteran edge.
JJ from downtown🔥 pic.twitter.com/6uHjp0N0uO
— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) November 18, 2019
Signing with the Pelicans on a two-year deal in the offseason, J.J. Redick continues to impress with performances like Sunday’s against Golden State.
The Pelicans were without Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, Derrick Favors, Josh Hart, Jahlil Okafor, and Frank Jackson on Sunday night, many fearing that J.J. Redick might also be due for a second consecutive scratch.
Facing-off against a Golden State team who’ve also been crushed by injuries, having Redick in the lineup proved a pushing point to help give the Pelicans a crucial edge.
Fortunately, Jrue Holiday is finally finding his stride over the last couple of games, closing the gap that might make this team’s loss of talent feel even more overwhelming.
Jrue weaving through all kinds of traffic gets it to go! pic.twitter.com/mHUtxcnqjY
— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) November 18, 2019
Though he struggled at times tonight, Jrue was key for the New Orleans Pelicans in the fourth quarter. Posting 22 points, 9 assists, and 8 rebounds, Holiday’s shot wasn’t always super steady, as he finished 9-of-22 from the floor.
Tonight, fans will be able to look past the otherwise troubling was the 0-of-5 clip from three-point range and 4 turnovers that didn’t come on particularly incisive opportunities.
Holiday missed a few games to start the season and didn’t look right for the first stretch of games.
However, Jrue’s looked more comfortable in his skin as he continues to adjust to life after Anthony Davis.
The New Orleans Pelicans still steamed to struggle to hold off the Warriors down the stretch. Golden State found a way to cut it to 102-96 with under three minutes left. Ultimately, the team trusted its floor spacing, milked the clock, and found a way to keep the Warriors at arm’s length.
Seemingly with J.J. Redick in the lineup, the Pelicans just had an extra push that Golden State just couldn’t match.
Redick is now averaging 12.7 points per game this season in New Orleans while shooting 45.2% from three-point territory. Expect to see his minutes continue to see up-ticks.
Also boosting the team’s overall positive guard play was a nice night from the team’s rookie guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker.
Alexander-Walker has played well over the last handful of games and tonight was called on down the stretch by Alvin Gentry. He moved the ball well and provided 19 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists, shooting 5-of-13 from three-point range.
Giving the Warriors a lot to handle from their sharp guard play, the team made themselves pretty tough to cover when they went small in the fourth quarter.
The guards for the New Orleans Pelicans have a lot to feel good about tonight on both ends of the floor. While they allowed Ky Bowman to find 19 points, they don’t have to feel as much guilt for the 30 points, 10-of-17 from the floor night allowed to Eric Paschall.
Not in the business of moral victories, the team found a way to close down a winnable game against the Warriors, albeit on the floor of their home Smoothie King Center. They’ve played well despite a long-running list of injuries to key players to start the 2019-2020 season.
J.J. Redick and Jrue Holiday were always going to be key to what happened to the New Orleans Pelicans during the first season of their reload, so it’s exciting to see the two are finding a groove.
Winning tonight against the Golden State Warriors, the Pelicans avoided losing to a team who are now spiraling on a seven-game losing streak. It took great performances from Holiday and Redick, but the New Orleans Pelicans will take wins any way they can find them at this point in the year.