The New Orleans Pelicans had one of their most impressive team wins last night against the Bulls, led by Devonte’ Graham and his new hair.
Graham was coming off one of his worst games of the season against Charlotte and needed to try something to snap himself out of his shooting funk. He unleashed his hair from the braids against the Bulls, and like Antonio Daniels said during the game, “Long hair, don’t care!”
Graham played loose and had his most efficient night of the season, going 8-for-12 en route to 30 points to lead the Pelicans. It was important given that Brandon Ingram is still out and the Pelicans were desperately looking for a third guy to step up.
But it really was a team effort, as the Pels’ bench led the charge in the 4th quarter, Jonas Valanciunas had a hard-fought double-double, CJ McCollum had a “quiet” 25 points and Jose Alvarado sparked the run that won the game.
There has been a lot of talk about how much this team enjoys playing together and you could see it last night, as the bench was cheering on the team, players were running to help each other up and generally playing selfless team basketball that led to an important win.
The Pelicans are now tied for 9th with the Lakers (the Pels currently own the tiebreaker) and have a huge head-to-head matchup looming on Sunday that will help determine if the Pelicans get to keep their draft pick this offseason.
If the Pelicans continue to play like they did last night and get Brandon Ingram back this weekend, things could really get rolling in New Orleans.
Here are three takeaways from the win over the shorthanded Bulls, who got a huge night from Zach LaVine but were missing Lonzo Ball and DeMar DeRozan.
New Orleans Pelicans: Jonas Valanciunas appreciation
Jonas Valanciunas is having the best season of his career, averaging 18.1 points, 11.6 rebounds and 2.5 assists. The points and assists are career highs.
Valanciunas has stepped up with Ingram out and the Pelicans are running their offense through him a lot of the time. He’s been much better as a passer out of double teams this season, but has also been aggressively looking for his own shot.
He had 16 points and 19 rebounds last night in a battle against Nikola Vucevic, who played physically and quite frankly, got away with a ton of fouls.
Valanciunas gets taken for granted at times, but he has really been even better than advertised this season in a larger role and has stepped up with all of the injuries.
Jose Alvarado sparked the run that won the Pelicans the game
It was a tight game through three quarters with several runs and lead changes.
That was until undrafted rookie Jose Alvarado took over the game in the 4th. Alvarado scored 14 of his 15 points in the 4th quarter, and was the catalyst behind a 40 point team effort in the final frame.
The Bulls had no answer for his dribble penetration, and when he wasn’t getting to the rack, he was moving without the ball, getting himself open for a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer.
I thought he played Zach LaVine the best of any of the Pelicans’ defenders and his energy gave the Pelicans life several times throughout the game.
There was a play late in the 2nd that symbolized the effect Jose Alvarado has on games. After missing a wide-open runner, Alvarado hustled back on defense to get the steal from behind on LaVine, then led the break going the other way and eventually finished at the rim through contact from center Vucevic.
It gave the Pelicans the lead and was one of the points in the game where the momentum shifted because of his energy and hustle.
But he wasn’t the only boost off the bench.
Larry Nance Jr. gives the Pelicans veteran leadership off the bench
It was only Larry Nance Jr’s first appearance for the New Orleans Pelicans, but you can already see how he is going to affect the bench.
After the Bulls got an early lead, it was the defense of the bench behind Nance Jr. and Alvarado that brought the Pels back.
Nance Jr. was calling out instructions, communicating on defense and already showed himself to be a leader on that end. He was in the game well into the 4th quarter and had a huge block on Tristan Thompson to stop an easy bucket.
He finished the game with nine points and four rebounds but also added some intangibles that the Pels have been missing off the bench.
He is going to be a big factor down the stretch, as he is versatile enough to play with any group and gives the Pels a smart team defender to solidify their bench unit.
If this team is ever back at full strength they are going to be very good, especially with Nance Jr. anchoring the bench.