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Five things to know about Pelicans guard Jarrett Jack

1)      As a member of the New York Knicks in 2017-18, his 13th season in the NBA, the point guard filled a prominent role, starting 56 games and averaging 7.5 points and 5.6 assists. The latter statistic tied him for 22nd in the league (new Pelicans teammate Elfrid Payton ranked 15th, at 6.2 apg). Jack registered a season-high 14 assists in a Nov. 24 game at Atlanta, while reaching double-digit dimes in five other contests. Jack’s minute allotment decreased late in the campaign, with the out-of-contention Knicks opting to get some of their young players onto the floor for longer stretches.

2)      This is Jack’s third separate stint in New Orleans. A two-year member of the then-Hornets in 2010-11 and 2011-12, Jack also played two games for the Pelicans during the ’16-17 regular season. The Washington, D.C., area native’s most memorable moment in the Crescent City probably occurred during Game 4 of a first-round playoff series vs. the Lakers in ’11, when he dropped in a floater in the lane to help seal a NOLA win. That victory evened the Western Conference series at two games apiece and stood as the franchise’s most recent postseason triumph prior to the Pelicans taking Game 1 at Portland this spring.

3)      New Orleans twice got an up-close look at Jack’s continued effectiveness last season, with the Georgia Tech product depositing a season-best 22 points (along with eight assists) vs. the Pelicans on Jan. 14 in Madison Square Garden. Two weeks earlier, Jack foiled New Orleans in the Smoothie King Center on Dec. 30 with a 15-point, seven-assist outing, sparking the Knicks to an upset road win. Jack helped hand the Pelicans one of their most disappointing defeats – particularly at home – of the entire ’17-18 regular season.

4)      Jack is an elite foul shooter with a career rate of 85.5 percent, and provides some perimeter help, at 34.3 percent from the three-point arc in the NBA. He shot a career-high 41.2 percent on treys for Toronto in ’09-10 and finished at 40.4 three years later with Golden State. Those ’12-13 Warriors launched Golden State’s climb toward its current status as the NBA’s premier team, going 47-35 and upsetting Denver in a first-round matchup. Jack was Golden State’s second-leading scorer in the '13 playoffs, averaging 17.2 points, just ahead of Harrison Barnes (16.1) and Klay Thompson (15.2). Then-rookie Draymond Green averaged 5.8, while Stephen Curry was the No. 1 threat at 23.4.

5)      By far the most experienced player overall on New Orleans’ current roster, Jack has played in 867 regular season NBA games, along with 24 postseason contests. The next-oldest Pelican is 30-year-old Alexis Ajinca, while the player with the next-most years of NBA experience on the squad is Jrue Holiday, who’s entering a 10th season. Jack, Anthony Davis and Darius Miller are the only current players who were part of the franchise prior to it changing its nickname to Pelicans in ’13-14.