Pacers (21-19), Pelicans (16-26)
INDIANAPOLIS – New Orleans fell behind big in the first half Monday, lost All-Star Anthony Davis to injury in the second half, faced another significant deficit after Davis’ exit, then rallied back again to make it a dramatic finish. That late-game push came up a bit short, however, in a matinee that somewhat improbably wasn’t decided until the final horn.
Indiana built a 16-point cushion prior to intermission, but New Orleans sliced it to 62-60 after Davis connected on two free throws in the third quarter. On the previous play, the 23-year-old fell hard to the floor after he tried to dunk over Indiana’s Myles Turner, who committed a common foul in trying to deny Davis. The Pacers went back up by double digits, before the Pelicans mounted a comeback and had multiple chances to tie or take the lead in crunch time. Trailing by two in the final seconds, Indiana native E’Twaun Moore missed a close-range floater that would’ve tied the game. The hosts kept the Pelicans alive with a spate of bad foul shooting in the final minute, but New Orleans couldn’t capitalize.
The Pelicans finished 2-3 on their Eastern Conference road trip, missing a chance to cut their deficit behind eighth-place Portland to just a half game in the standings.
IT WAS OVER WHEN…
Down three and with no timeouts remaining, New Orleans inbounded from the right sideline with 1.7 seconds left. Tyreke Evans took a Jrue Holiday pass and dribbled into the right corner with his momentum going away from the hoop, launched a three-pointer but came up well short as the buzzer sounded.
PELICANS PLAYER OF THE GAME
Once again, Terrence Jones stepped in and played very well in Davis’ absence. Jones has averaged 22.7 points in the three full games missed by Davis, and this time came through with 15 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two blocks. Much of Jones’ damage came in the second half, after Davis was forced to leave with right hip and left thumb injuries. X-rays on both came back negative.
PELICANS UNSUNG CONTRIBUTOR
Moore had an extended weekend around many family and friends, with the Pelicans playing in Chicago on Saturday, then in Indianapolis. The Purdue product helped the Pelicans outscore the Pacers 34-22 in the second quarter and get back in the game by scoring seven points; he tacked on eight in the fourth period. The East Chicago, Ind., native totaled 15 points and two blocks.
QUOTES TO NOTE
“We got two good looks at it, just couldn’t get it into the basket.” – Alvin Gentry on the Pelicans having a Holiday mid-range jumper and Moore floater misfire in the final minute, both with a chance to tie
“We felt like we were in a groove and going pretty good there. It doesn’t help obviously with AD going down. I thought we were starting to click and do a lot of things offensively. Him going down took some of that away.” – Gentry on how the Pelicans had sliced nearly all of their deficit, but lost momentum for a few minutes immediately after the Davis injury
“We gave ourselves a chance to win, and that’s what we wanted to do. We were down, fought our way back. We had good shots at the end, but just didn’t convert.” – Moore on the defeat
BY THE NUMBERS
50.6: Indiana shooting percentage from the field. Gentry noted after the game that the Pelicans did many other things well in order to nearly win despite that hot shooting.
51-19: New Orleans advantage in bench scoring. Moore and Jones both had 15 points, while Evans notched 12 and Langston Galloway added nine.
5: Pacers missed free throws, including four in the final minute. Myles Turner and Glenn Robinson each had two, keeping the Pelicans’ hopes flickering.