The New Orleans Pelicans played their best game of the season against the Los Angeles Clippers, winning 123-104 behind some red-hot shooting.
Jonas Valanciunas led the way going 7-of-8 from long-range with a flurry of shots in the 1st half. The Pelicans’ bench was going crazy and the Pels were rolling, going up 18 early.
Just about everyone got in on the hot shooting and the Pelicans finished hitting 40 percent of their 3-point shots as a team.
It was a thing of beauty on both ends, as the Pelicans’ defense forced the Clippers into a lot of isolation basketball and tough shots that led to fast breaks for New Orleans.
Here are 3 takeaways from the Pels win over the Clippers.
The New Orleans Pelicans are starting to roll
Don’t look now but the Pelicans are 5-5 over their last 10 games and just took 2-of-3 on a tough road trip out West, beating Utah and LA.
The Pelicans are just five games back of the play-in and after back-to-back games with Dallas, have a lighter schedule that will hopefully lead to a few wins, especially if Zion Williamson is back by then.
The teams directly ahead of them in the standings aren’t playing particularly well, so if the Pelicans can string together a few weeks of quality play, they could be right back in this thing in time to make a run at the playoffs.
The Pels seem to be figuring some things out on offense and Willie Green has tightened his rotations. Once Zion gets back the Pels can go with Willie Hernangomez, Josh Hart, Kira Lewis Jr. and Nickeil Alexander-Walker for most of their bench minutes and all of them have been contributing.
The starters are playing well and the bench players are figuring out their roles, so the Pelicans could be poised to go on a run once they are finally at full strength.
Herb Jones’ defense is changing the Pelicans culture
Herb Jones had his best all-around game of the season against the Clippers, and his energy and defense were a big part of how the Pelicans built an early lead.
Jones played the entire first quarter and was everywhere, with a block and a steal that set the tone for the game.
I love the way Jones fights over screens and closes the space between him and the offensive player. He is constantly putting pressure on the ball and causing guys to make tough passes or take contested shots.
Even the shots Reggie Jackson hit on Herb last night were ones you will live with, as they were tough, step backs and fade-aways, not high percentage shots.
Jones’ energy seems to be rubbing off on everyone else, as I’ve noticed an uptick in Brandon Ingram’s help defense when Jones is on the floor.
He is also figuring out how to make plays on offense with hard cuts to the basket and he is an underrated passer. It’s hard to believe Herb Jones is a rookie, as he always seems to make the right play.
Herb Jones and Josh Hart might not score a ton, but they make plays on offense and get after it on defense and it appears their teammates are responding.
Jonas Valanciunas and Zion Williamson are going to be amazing together
Raise your hand if you are ready to see Zion and Jonas play together?
We’re not there yet, but it’s getting close and this could end up being a special front court. Valanciunas has been unbelievable, putting up the best numbers of his career, including a blistering 51 percent from 3-point range.
Valanciunas is pretty much the perfect center to put with Zion Williamson, as he can set screens and pop out for 3-point shots like he did last night, creating space and making teams choose their poison.
The two of them are going to be a terror on the boards for opposing teams and shouldn’t have any of the spacing issues the Pels had last season with Steven Adams spending most of the night in the lane.
Valanciunas isn’t going to shoot eight 3’s every night but being able to knock them down like he has will force teams to stay honest or pay the price, reducing the clutter in the lane and the easy double teams on Zion.
This is going to be fun to watch and I can’t wait.