In one of its most complete and balanced performances of the season, New Orleans posted a fairly convincing victory over Southwest Division-leading Memphis. The Pelicans led wire-to-wire after charging out of the gate quickly behind a revamped starting lineup, taking a 31-19 lead through the first quarter and rarely being threatened after that. It was the third time this season that New Orleans never trailed in a victory (the others were Minnesota and Houston, both in the Smoothie King Center). Four different Pelicans players topped the 20-point mark, the first time that’s happened in 2014-15. Jrue Holiday led the way with 23 points, while Tyreke Evans had 21. Anthony Davis and Ryan Anderson deposited 20 apiece. New Orleans improved to 12-5 at home and picked up its fifth division victory of the season, already surpassing its 4-12 mark from 2013-14.
IT WAS OVER WHEN…
Pelicans point guard Jrue Holiday swished a three-pointer from the right side to give New Orleans a 99-87 lead with just over two minutes remaining. Tyreke Evans added the icing on the cake with two driving layups, the first putting the Pelicans over 100 points and ensuring free French fries for 17,639 fans in attendance.
PELICANS PLAYER OF THE GAME
Tyreke Evans was a markedly better player last season as a starter compared to when he came off the bench, but he was superb Friday in a somewhat surprising move to the second unit. Evans finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds, shooting 7-for-15 from the field and 7-for-10 from the foul line. All seven of his baskets came on layups.
PELICANS UNSUNG CONTRIBUTOR
Dante Cunningham had one of the better scoreless games you’ll see in the NBA, grabbing seven rebounds and blocking three shots. Cunningham was 0-for-5 from the field, but as a brand-new starter, his offense is needed less than it was when he was a reserve. The in-season pickup entered Friday’s game with five blocks in 436 minutes, but had three vs. Memphis in 32 minutes.
QUOTES TO NOTE
“We had a talk, me and Coach (Williams), Jrue (Holiday) and Eric (Gordon) about just trying to switch it up. Coach said he thought I’d be better off the bench, knowing what I could do with the ball. I agreed to it, if that’s going to make us balance out better. I’m a team-first type of guy. I just want us to win and be playing well.” – Tyreke Evans on the Pelicans’ decision to move him to the reserve unit
“I won’t say it’s too early, but I do like the fact that Dante (Cunningham) gives us a bit of an edge at the (starting small forward) spot. Tyreke (Evans) and Eric (Gordon) when they have to switch onto (small forwards), it puts those guys in a tough spot, especially playing against long, 6-8 or 6-9 guys. Even though Tyreke can get by most anybody. But we’ll see. We’ve got a big trip coming up. We haven’t won against an Eastern Conference team on the road. We’ll see if these rotation changes pay dividends.” – Monty Williams on evaluating the changes he made to his starting lineup Friday
“Memphis is a team that likes to slow it down and play inside-out. The coaches did their job and told us that we want to play at our pace. (Memphis) tried to slow us down. I tried to be aggressive, get it down the court, get in the paint and make something happen.” – Jrue Holiday, who had eight of New Orleans’ 21 assists
BY THE NUMBERS
1: Time in team history (dating to 2002-03) that New Orleans has had four players score 20-plus points in the same game at home. NOLA has done it a total of five times, but the previous four instances were all on the road.
50: Percentage from the three-point arc for the Pelicans, at 10-for-20. Ryan Anderson nailed four treys, while Eric Gordon and Jrue Holiday sank three apiece.
15: New Orleans fast-break points, part of the Pelicans successfully speeding up the tempo of Friday’s game. Their Nov. 3 defeat at Memphis was a slow-paced game greatly to the Grizzlies’ liking
FAN TWEET OF THE GAME
An opinion from @BearcubTooTurnt seemed to be a bit prophetic about the outcome if Tyreke Evans is played with Ryan Anderson more, which will happen more frequently if Evans continues to come off the bench: “I’d split time by having Evans on the floor as much as possible with Anderson. Better drive and kick offense than with Eric Gordon.”
#TAKEFLIGHT QUESTION OF THE NIGHT
January is a pivotal month for the Pelicans, including next week’s Eastern Conference road trip, the team’s lengthiest of the season (five games). With games in Boston, Detroit, Philadelphia, Toronto and New York, what would you consider to be a successful road trip and why?
From @gobear3: “4-1 nothing less. Need to separate ourselves from .500 in a good way.”
From @_QTip: “4 outta 5 wins…wouldn't be mad at 3 outta 5 depending on how they play.”
From @mrcatz22: “4-1 or 3-2 depending on how legit the Pistons are. I want us to win the ‘winnable’ games. Dont know how to judge Detroit.”
From @Brian_NOFD: “4-1 against those teams would be ideal.”