Halftime is exceptionally brief during summer league games, but whatever adjustments New Orleans and new head coach Willie Green have been making during intermission this week, they’re clearly working. For a second straight contest in Las Vegas, New Orleans did not have the lead midway through a game, but dominated the second half en route to a victory.
Wednesday’s game was deadlocked at 35 at the midway point, before the Pelicans held a 22-14 third-quarter edge and went up comfortably by double digits in the final stanza. Two days earlier, New Orleans trailed Chicago by three at halftime, then overpowered the Bulls 50-30 in the final 20 minutes.
IT WAS OVER WHEN…
Naji Marshall drained a three-pointer from the left side, giving New Orleans a 15-point lead with five-plus minutes remaining. The Pelicans have won their first two games in Nevada by margins of 17 and 15 points, respectively.
PELICANS PLAYER UPDATES
Marshall again looked like a player with a season of NBA experience under his belt, leading New Orleans in scoring in both halves with nine points apiece. His 18-point outing was highlighted by 3/5 three-point shooting; he’s scored exactly 18 points in both summer games. “He had a monster game for us today,” Pelicans coach Willie Green said. “When we struggled to score a little bit, he got it going, going to the basket, rebounding the ball well. We’ll need him to continue to play at that level.��� …
Point guard Kira Lewis Jr. scored 12 points and dished out five assists, upping his assist-to-turnover ratio in Vegas to 12/3. He added five rebounds and two steals. Like Marshall, he appears a step ahead of the competition after his 2020-21 rookie NBA campaign. Green on Lewis: “He’s learning how to control the tempo of a game, pick his spots. He’ll be playing with Zion (Williamson) and Brandon (Ingram), so there may be nights where he can get it going (scoring-wise), but there are going to be a lot of nights where he has to pick his spots. He’s learning, but we’re really happy with what he’s doing right now and where he is.” …
Second-round pick Herb Jones threw down an alley oop in the second half off a feed from Lewis, his former teammate at Alabama. Jones (seven points, two steals in 20 minutes) said of the connection, “It was great. It brought back some memories!” Meanwhile, Green said of Jones’ versatility, “Herb can play nearly every position on the floor. When he gets in defensively, he’s a disruptor. He’s always in the right position. He’s blocking shots, (giving) multiple effort. And that’s what we want with this team, to build with our defense. He’s a big part of that.” ...
Compared to his explosive 26-point, six-trey game Monday vs. Chicago, first-round pick Trey Murphy was relatively quiet Wednesday, tallying 10 points on 4/7 shooting, while grabbing six rebounds. Asked postgame what’s been most impressive about Murphy early, Green said, “His ability to shoot and spread the floor out for us is going to be huge. And he can put the ball on the floor, get to the basket. Once again, his defense was excellent. He’s long, he’s athletic and it just ties in to how we want to play. So I’ve been really impressed with his high level of energy and his ability to shoot the ball.”